Podcasts about Duologue

How has the classical music industry approached representation and how has the new music community forged new paths to embrace diverse musics? On tonight's episode of Obbligato on APEX Express, Isabel Li is joined by violinist Shalini Vijayan, who discusses her vibrant career and reflects upon the ways contemporary classical music can build community.  Violinist Shalini Vijayan, deemed “a vibrant violinist” by Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times is an established performer and collaborator on both coasts. Always an advocate for modern music, Shalini was a founding member and Principal Second Violin of Kristjan Jarvi's Absolute Ensemble, having recorded several albums with them including 2001 Grammy nominee, Absolution. Shalini was also a founding member of the Lyris Quartet, one of Los Angeles' most beloved chamber ensembles. With Lyris, she has performed regularly at Walt Disney Concert Hall on the Green Umbrella series, for Jacaranda Music and helped to found the Hear Now Music Festival in Venice, California, a festival dedicated to the music of living composers in Los Angeles.  Shalini performed for over a decade with Southwest Chamber Music and can be heard on their Grammy nominated Complete Chamber Works of Carlos Chávez, Vol. 3. She has been a featured soloist with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Chinary Ung's Spiral XII and Tan Dun's Water Passion, including performances at the Ravinia Festival. As a chamber musician, Shalini has collaborated with such luminaries as Billy Childs, Chinary Ung, Gabriela Ortiz, and Wadada Leo Smith on whose Ten Freedom Summers she was a soloist. Shalini joined acclaimed LA ensemble, Brightwork New Music in 2019 and also serves as the curator for Brightwork's Tuesdays@Monkspace series, a home for contemporary music and performance in Los Angeles. As a teacher, she has been on the faculty of the Nirmita Composers Workshop in both Siem Reap and Bangkok and coaches composition students through the Impulse New Music Festival.  Shalini received her B.M. and M.M. degrees from Manhattan School of Music as a student of Lucie Robert and Ariana Bronne. As a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, Shalini served as concertmaster for Michael Tilson Thomas, John Adams, Reinbert de Leeuw and Oliver Knussen. She was also concertmaster for the world premiere performances and recording of Steven Mackey's Tuck and Roll for RCA records in 2000. Shalini was a member of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra for ten seasons and also served as Principal Second Violin of Opera Pacific. She lives in Los Angeles with her son, husband and two dogs and spends her free time cooking Indian food and exploring the culinary landscape of Southern California.  Check out more of her work at:  https://brightworknewmusic.com/tuesdays-at-monk-space/  https://www.lyrisquartet.com/    Transcript  Opening: [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the APEX Express.    00:01:03 Isabel Li  You're listening to Obbligato, which is a segment about the Asian American Pacific Islander community, specifically in classical music.  00:01:11 Isabel Li  I'm your host, Isabel Li, and today joining me is Shalini Vijayan, who is a violinist, established performer, and always an advocate for modern music.  00:01:21 Isabel Li  Shalini is also a founding member of the Lyris Quartet, one of Los Angeles most beloved chamber ensembles. With Lyris, she has performed regularly at Walt Disney Concert Hall on the Green Umbrella series for Jacaranda Music, and helped to found the Here and Now Music Festival in Venice, California, a festival dedicated to the music of living composers in Los Angeles. She joined acclaimed LA ensemble Brightwork New Music in 2019, and also serves as the curator for Brightwork's Tuesdays at Monk Space series. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her son, husband and two dogs, and spends her free time cooking Indian food and exploring the culinary landscape of Southern California.  00:02:04 Isabel Li  Well, Shalini, thank you so much for joining me in this conversation today.  00:02:09 Shalini Vijayan  I'm so happy to be with you.  00:02:11 Isabel Li  Awesome. I'd like to just get to know you and your story. How do you identify and what communities do you consider yourself a part of?  00:02:18 Shalini Vijayan  I use the pronouns she, her, and I. Um, I identify as South Asian. I grew up in an Indian family. My parents immigrated to the US in the sixties to teach at medical school. And I grew up with a great deal of Indian culture. And I've spent a lot of time going back and forth to India from the time that I was very young. You know, it's interesting because I feel like in LA, where I live and work specifically, there is so much overlap between all of our different musical communities. You know, I went to school in New York, and I feel like there I was much more, I'm very connected to the new music community in New York and felt really kind of entrenched in that at the time I was there. And after coming to LA, I realized that, um, there are a lot of musicians doing so many different things. That's one of the things I love about Los Angeles, actually. And, you know, I'm definitely very, very rooted in the new music community in LA. And that was where I made my first sort of connections when I first moved to Los Angeles. But I also, you know, worked in an orchestra when I first came to LA. I played in the Pacific Symphony for almost ten seasons, and so I became a part of that community as well. And you know, as the years went on, I also became much more involved in the studio music community of LA studio musicians playing on movie scores, playing on television shows, records, what have you, Awards shows, all sorts of things. And these are all very distinct communities in LA in music. But I see a ton of overlap between all of them. There are so many incredibly versatile musicians in Los Angeles that people are able to really very easily move from one of these groups to the other and, you know, with a great deal of success. And I feel like it gives us so much variety in our lives as musicians in LA, you don't feel like you're ever just in one lane. You can really occupy all these different kinds of spaces.  00:04:23 Isabel Li  Right, yeah. So you're classically trained, from what I know, and you describe yourself as an advocate for modern music. So why modern music?  00:04:33 Shalini Vijayan  That's a great question. I have have had to answer this question quite a bit over the years, especially to non-musicians. And it's always an interesting story for me. You know, as a violinist in particular, you know, we have such a storied history of repertoire and pedagogy, and there is such an incredible, um, library of music that we have access to from the very standard classical repertoire. And there is a great deal to be learned about the instrument and about music from playing all that repertoire. I think at some point when I was in high school, I started to become interested in more modern music. And actually I grew up in Davis in Northern California.   My parents both taught at the university there, at the medical school and in Sacramento. Nearby there was a festival of modern American music that I think still goes on to this day at Cal State University, Sacramento. And it was really a great festival. And at that time, you know, they would bring professional artists, they'd have composers, they'd have commissions, all sorts of things. But at the time that I was like in high school, they also had a junior division to the festival, and I was asked to play a couple pieces in the Festival of, um, Modern Works, and I can't remember at this time what the pieces were, but it left such a huge impression on me. And I think what I really took away from that experience as a kid is that in my studies as a violinist, I was always being asked to sort of live up to this history and this legacy of violin music and violin playing in Western classical music. And it's a very high bar. And it's, um, you know, of course, there's so much great stuff there. But there was something so freeing about playing this music that had either never been played or not been recorded. So there was nothing to reference in terms of listening to a recording, um, and listening to how you, you know, quote, should be playing it that it made me feel, uh, you know, all this, this freedom to really interpret the music, how I felt, rather than feeling like I had to live up to a standard that had been set for me, you know, decades or centuries before. And I think that really something really clicked for me with that, that I wanted to have that kind of freedom when I, when I was playing. And so from there on out, um, you know, when I went to college and I really sought out opportunities in new music as much as I could.  00:07:00 Isabel Li  So you were first exposed to new music when you were in high school. Did that influence your decision to become a musician at all? Or were you already set on becoming a musician and that was just part of what shaped your works over the years.  00:07:15 Shalini Vijayan  I think by that time, I had already decided that I wanted to be a musician. I mean, as you know, so many of us as musicians and I think particularly string players, we decide so young because we start our instruments at such a young age and we start studying so early. Um, that I think by that time I, I had decided I wanted to do music, but this sort of opened another door for me that made me realize that it wasn't just one path in music necessarily. I think it's very easy as a, as a kid and as a violinist to think you admire these great soloists that you see and, you know, people like Perlman and, you know, Isaac Stern, who were the stars of the time when I was growing up. But, you know, you get to be in high school and you realize that hasn't happened yet. It's probably not going to happen. And so, you know, what's then then what's your path forward? How do you find a life in music if you're not going to be one of these stars? And I think, you know, new music really opened up that opportunity for me. And yeah, made me look at things a little differently for sure.  00:08:18 Isabel Li  And currently you're in the contemporary classical music ensemble, Brightwork newmusic, and you curate the ensemble's concert series, Tuesdays @ Monk Space. So how do you go about curating concerts with music by contemporary or living composers? What do you look for?  00:08:33 Shalini Vijayan  Well, right now I'm really focused on trying to represent our new music community in LA at Monk Space, which is such, you know, we have such a diverse community of musicians, not just in the makeup of who the people are making the music or writing the music, but also in just the styles of music. And so I think I try to really represent a very diverse set of aesthetics in our season. Um, you know, everything from, you know, last season we had, uh, Niloufar Shiri, who is a traditional Persian kamancheh player, but she also she can play very in a very traditional way, but she also plays with a jazz pianist. And, you know, it does all this very improvisatory stuff. And, you know, then we would have other programs where everything is very much written out and very through, composed and you know, it's been a very wide variety. And, you know, when I try to build the season, I try to make sure that it's really balanced in terms of, you know, the different types of things you'll be hearing because not every audience member is going to want to engage with every type of music. Um, or, you know, if we if we really stuck to one style and it was just in that language for the whole season, then I feel like we would, you know, alienate potential audience members. But with this, I feel like if we can bring people in for one concert and they're really into it, then hopefully they'll come to something else that is new and different for them and be exposed to something that they may really get into after that. So yeah, I think diversity and variety is really where I try to start from.  00:10:09 Isabel Li  How does that engage the community? Have you observed audience reception to this type of new music when there are composers from all different types of backgrounds?  00:10:20 Shalini Vijayan  Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think that each composer and each artist brings their own community into the space, which and so that's another. I feel like another strong reason why I try to make things very different from concert to concert. And, you know, we have some younger players who come in and bring in, you know, everyone from college students to, you know, their friends and family. And then, you know, really established composers. Like this season we have Bill Roper, who is kind of a legend in the music community in LA. Mult instrumentalist and composer who has been around for decades. And, you know, I think people will come out just because they want to see him and he's such a draw. And, um, you know, I, I also would love to be able to incorporate more world music into the series. Like I said, we did do Niloufar concert, which I felt like I really hoped would like engage with the Persian community in LA as well. And a couple seasons ago we had Rajna Swaminathan, who is, I just think, an incredible artist. Um, she plays mridangam, which is a South Indian percussion instrument, but she also writes for Western instruments, uh, and herself. And we had her and a pianist and then Ganavya, who's a vocalist who's amazing. And, you know, Ganavya had her own following. So we had and Rajna has her own following. So we had a whole full audience that night of people who I had never seen in the space before. And that was for me. That's a success because we're bringing in new friends and new engagement. And, um, I was really excited about that. When I'm able to make those kinds of connections with new people, then that feels like a success to me.  00:12:05 Isabel Li  Certainly.  00:12:06 Isabel Li  Let's hear one of Shalini's performances. This is an excerpt from the 10th of William Kraft's “Encounters”, a duologue for violin and marimba, performed here by Shalini Vijayan with Southwest Chamber Music.  00:12:20 [MUSIC – Encounters X: Duologue for Violin & Marimba]  00:17:18 Isabel Li  An excerpt from William Kraft's Encounters, the 10th of which is called Duologue for Violin and Marimba, that was performed by Shalini Vijayan, the violinist, with Southwest Chamber Music.  00:17:31 Isabel Li  And Shalini is here with me in conversation today. We've been discussing contemporary music and her involvement in the new music scene, specifically in Los Angeles.  00:17:40 Isabel Li  Music is all about community, drawing people together. So going back to how you describe yourself as an advocate for modern music, what are other ways that you have advocated for modern music besides curating the concert series?  00:17:53 Shalini Vijayan  Well, over the years, um, you know, I feel like in all the ensembles I've been in, there's been a real focus on commissioning composers and on performing works that have not been, uh, either performed or recorded before. And I feel like the only way to really get the music out there is to, obviously, is to play it and hopefully to be able to record it. We've worked especially with the lyrics quartet. We've worked with so many young composers in LA either just strictly, you know, contemporary classical composers or even film composers who, um, have works that they'd like to have recorded. And, you know, it's been great to see a lot of those people go on to really amazing things and to be a part of their journey, uh, and to help support them. And, uh, the other thing that the quartet has been heavily involved in and now Bright Work Ensemble has been involved in as well, is the Here Now music festival, which has been going on in LA for well over a decade now. We were involved in the first, um, seasons of that festival. We've been one of the resident ensembles since the very beginning, and that festival is dedicated to the music of LA and Southern California composers. And, um, we have a call for scores every year that we, the four of us in the quartet, are part of the panel that reviews all the scores, along with a lot of our other colleagues, um, who are involved with the festival, and Hugh Levick, who is the artistic director of the festival and has we've worked side by side with him on this for a very long time. And that's also been a fantastic avenue for, um, meeting new composers, hearing new works, having them performed. And the thing I always say about that festival every time it comes around, usually in the spring we have at least three concerts. It's this incredible coming together of the new music community in Southern California, where all these great composers and all these amazing players come together and play these series of concerts, because there's such a vast number of pieces that end up getting programmed. They can't rely on just like one group or one or two groups to play them. So it really pulls in a lot of players from all over town. And I don't know, it always just feels like a really fun time, a fun weekend for all of us to see each other and connect. And, um, and again, just build our community to be even stronger.  00:20:20 Isabel Li  That's really cool. How do you ignite interest in new music? Because this is a genre that I think is slightly underrepresented or just underrepresented in general in both the classical music community and the music industry as a whole.  00:20:35 Shalini Vijayan  That's a great question, and I think it's a really important question for our whole industry and community. How do you engage people in new music and get them into a concert? Um, you know, I think one of the biggest hurdles for classical music in general, I will say, um, when I talk to people about why they don't want to come to a concert or why they don't want to, you know, let's say, go see the LA Phil or, you know, wherever, whatever city they're in, the major cultural music institution. I think there is a misconception generally that, oh, it's, you know, I have to be dressed a certain way or I it's going to be really stuffy. And, um, I, you know, I don't know what to wear or I don't know how I'm supposed to dress or how I'm supposed to act when I'm in the concert. Am I going to clap at the wrong time? You know, is it going to be really long? And, you know, and I and I get it, you know, I mean, I understand why that would be uncomfortable for a lot of people.   And it's not, um, it's something that necessarily everyone has grown up with or that it's been a part of their life. So I think it's really up to us, as you know, when we're on the side of programming concerts or putting together festivals or whatever, um, that we make things more accessible in terms of, um, concert length and interaction with audience. And, um, you know, I think it's I know I've been told so many times and I really think it's important that I think audiences love it when performers talk to them, when they talk about the music and, and set things up for a listener. I think that puts a kind of context on things that makes it so much easier for perhaps a new audience member, someone who's never come to a concert before to feel at ease and feel like, okay, I know what I'm getting into.   One of our, actually our former executive director at Brightwork, Sarah Wass, who was fantastic, and I was very happy to work with when I was just starting out programming, Monk Space had the idea of putting on the program the running time of the pieces, and I think even that is just something that, like, can prepare people for what they're getting into when they're about to listen to something new. And in terms of the music itself, I think that if someone, especially a younger person, doesn't feel like they have any connection to Beethoven or Brahms or Mozart, they might actually feel more connected to someone who is their age or a little older.   Someone who has had similar life experiences to them, or grown up in the same era as them, rather than someone who grew up, you know, in the seventeen hundreds. You know, there can be more of a real connection there, and that that person is writing this music and reflection of their life and their experiences. And, um, you know, again, I think that kind of context is important for a listener. And yeah. And then just lastly, I would say also, I feel like our space at Monk space is very inviting. It's very low key. It's, um, you know, it's casual, it's comfortable. Role. Um, we have, you know, snacks and a bar and, you know, everyone is very relaxed at intermission and has a good time. And I mean, for me, every time we host one of those concerts, I feel like I'm hosting a little party, you know? That's what it feels like for me. And that's what I want it to feel like for the audience as well.  00:23:52 Isabel Li  That brings up a really good point in that new music can make classical music or a new classical music, contemporary music, more accessible to different audiences. And certainly I've definitely heard the complaint from people over the years about classical music being a little too uptight. Would you say that these are two different genres?  00:24:11 Shalini Vijayan  I think that there is overlap, and I think, you know, for an ensemble like ours, like Brightwork, we have chosen to make our focus new music. So that's our thing. That's what we do. Um, and, uh, all of our concerts and our programming reflect that. Very rarely do we do anything that's not considered a contemporary piece. Um, but, you know, if you do look at some of our major institutions, like I think the LA Phil and I think the San Francisco Symphony, um, earlier, you know, like in the nineties under MTT, really started to pave the way for incorporating contemporary music into a standard classical format. And, you know, I think that's been very important. And I think it's really changed the way that orchestras have programmed across the country. And there has been such a nurturing of contemporary music in larger spaces. Now that I think that kind of overlap has started to happen much more frequently. I think that in more conservative settings, sometimes there's pushback against that. And even even, you know, in some of the places that I play, you know, sometimes with with the lyrics quartet, um, we are asked to just purely program standard classical repertoire, and we will occasionally throw in a little short piece, you know, just to try and put something in there, you know, something that's very accessible. Um, and, uh, you know that we know the audience will like so that we can help them, you know, kind of get over that fear of connecting to a newer piece. And I, I think in some ways, that's where the path forward lies, is that we have to integrate those things, you know, in order to keep kind of the old traditions of classical music alive. I think we have to keep the newer tradition alive as well, and find a way to put them in the same space.  00:26:00 Isabel Li  I certainly agree with that.  00:26:01 Isabel Li  Let's hear more of Shalini's work in new music. This is a performance of the first movement of Atlas Pumas by Gabriela Ortiz. Violinist Shalini Vijayan is joined by percussionist Lynn Vartan.  00:26:18 [MUSIC – Atlas Pumas, mvt 1 by Gabriela Ortiz]  00:29:21 Isabel Li  The first movement of Gabriela Ortiz's Atlas Pumas played here by violinist Shalini Vijian, and Lynn Vartan plays the marimba.  00:29:30 Isabel Li  And Shalini is actually joining us here for a conversation about new music, performances, identity, and representation.  00:29:38 Isabel Li  Many Asian American Pacific Islander artists in music have varying relationships between their art and their identity. I was wondering, to what extent do you feel that perhaps your South Asian identity intersects or influences the work that you do with music?  00:29:54 Shalini Vijayan  Growing up, um, you know, I grew up in a in a university town in Northern California and, you know, a lot of highly educated and, you know, kids of professors and, you know, but still not the most terribly diverse place. And then going into classical music. And this was, you know, in the early nineties when I went to college, um, it still was not a particularly it was very much not a diverse place at all. And, um, there certainly were a lot of Asian students at, um, Manhattan School of Music where I did my my studies.   But I would say it was a solid decade before I was ever in any sort of classical music situation where there was another South Asian musician. I very, very rarely met any South Asian musicians, and it wasn't until I went to the New World Symphony in the early late nineties, early two thousand, and I was a musician there. I was a fellow in that program there for three years that I walked into the first rehearsal, and there were three other South Asian, I think, of Indian descent musicians in the orchestra, and I was absolutely blown away because I literally had not, um, other than here and there at some festivals, I had not met any other South Asian classical musicians.   So it was really like that was the hallmark moment for me. It was a really big deal. And coming with my family, coming from India, you know, there is such a strong tradition of Indian classical music, of Carnatic music and Hindustani music. And, um, it's such a long, long tradition. And, you know, the people who have studied it and lived with it are, you know, they study it their whole lives to be proficient in it. And it's such an incredible, incredible art form and something that I admire so much. And I did as a kid. Take a few lessons here and there. I took some Carnatic singing lessons, um, and a little bit of tabla lessons when I was very young. Um, but I think somewhere in middle school or high school, I kind of realized that it was, for me at least, I wasn't, um, able to put enough time into both because both of them, you know, playing the violin in a Western classical style and then studying Indian classical music require a tremendous amount of effort and a tremendous amount of study. And I at that point chose to go with Western classical music, because that's what I'd been doing since I was five years old. But there has always kind of been this longing for me to be more connected to Indian classical music. Um, I'll go back again to Rajna. When I presented Rajna Swaminathan on Monk Space a couple of years ago, it was a really meaningful thing for me, because that's kind of what I'd always wanted to see was a joining together of that tradition, the Indian tradition with the Western tradition. And, um, I'm so happy that I'm starting to see that more and more with a lot of the artists that are coming up now. But at the time when I was young, it just it felt almost insurmountable that to to find a way to bring the two together. And, um, I remember very clearly as a kid listening to this, um, there was an album that Philip Glass did with Ravi Shankar, and I thought that was so cool at the time. And I used to listen to it over and over again because I just again, I was so amazed that these things could come together and in a, in a kind of successful way. Um, but yeah, there is, you know, there there's a part of me that would still love to go back and explore that more that, that side of it. Um, and but I will say also, I'm very happy now to see a lot more South Asian faces when I, you know, go to concerts on stage and in the audience. And, you know, a lot of composers that I've worked with now, um, of South Asian descent, it's been, you know, I've worked with Reena Esmail and Anuj Bhutani and Rajna and, um, there's so many more, and I'm so glad to see how they're all incorporating their connection to their culture to, to this, you know, Western kind of format of classical music. And they're all doing it in different ways. And it's it's really amazing.  00:34:22 Isabel Li  That's fantastic.  00:34:24 Isabel Li  I was wondering if you could maybe describe what this merging or combination of different styles entails. Do you think this makes it more accessible to audiences of two different cultures?  00:34:36 Shalini Vijayan  For me, one example, before I started running the series at Tuesdays at Monk Space, Aron Kallay, who is our Bright Work artistic director, had asked me to come and do a solo show on Monk Space, which I did in November of 2019.  00:34:52 Shalini Vijayan  And at the time, I wanted to commission a piece that did exactly that, that, that, um, involved some sort of Indian classical instrument or kind of the language of Indian classical music. And so I actually did reach out to Reena Esmail, and she wrote me a very cool piece called blaze that was for tabla and violin. Um, and I really had so much fun doing that. And Reena, Reena really has a very fluid way of writing for the violin, which she actually was a violinist, too. So she's she's really good at doing that. But being able to write for any melodic instrument or for the voice, which she does quite a bit as well, and incorporating sort of the tonality of Indian classical music, which obviously has its own scales and, um, has its own harmonic, harmonic world that is different from the Western world, um, but finds a way to translate that into the written note notation that we require as, uh, Western classical musicians. And, you know, I think that's the biggest gap to bridge, is that in Indian classical music, nothing is notated. Everything is handed down in an oral tradition, um, over the generations. And for us, everything is notated. And in Indian classical music, you know, there's much more improvisation. And now, of course, with modern classical music, there now is a lot more improvisation involved. But in our old standard tradition, obviously there isn't. And in the way that we're trained, mostly we're not trained to be improvisers. And um, so it's it was great. She has a great way of writing so that it kind of sounds like things are being tossed off and sounding sounds like they're being improvised, but they are actually fully notated, um, which I really appreciated.  00:36:50 Isabel Li  Yeah.  00:36:51 Isabel Li  So your career has spanned orchestras, recording ensembles, chamber music. Having had so much experience in these types of performance, what does representation in classical music mean to you?  00:37:04 Shalini Vijayan  Well, representation is is very important because we're talking about a tradition that was built on white men from centuries ago, European white men. And and it's again, it's an incredible tradition and there's so much great repertoire. But I'm going to circle back to what you were saying or what you asked me about connecting to audiences and, you know, connecting to audiences with new music. It's I think people like to see themselves reflected in the art that they choose. They choose to consume. And, you know, whether that's movies or television or music, I think that's how you connect with your audience is by being a bit of a mirror.  I think the only way that we can really continue to connect with a diverse audience is by having that type of diverse representation on our stages and on our recordings. And again, also not just the people, but the types of music, too. You know, musical tastes run wide, genres run wide as well. And it's I think It's good for all of us to be exposed to a lot of different kinds of music, to figure out what we connect with the most. And, um, yeah, the only way we can do that is by really, you know, opening our arms to a, a much wider variety of styles of music. And so I, you know, I mentioned improvisation, improvisation earlier. And I think that is something that's now starting to happen so much more in modern classical music. And, you know, I think there's something about the energy that a player has when they're improvising that is maybe not something that an audience member could quantify verbally, but there's a looseness and a freedom there that I think, you know, for a lot of audience members, they probably really can connect to. And, you know, that's a lot of why people go and listen to jazz is because there's so much freedom and there's so much improvisation.   I've been very lucky to be able to work with, um, Wadada Leo Smith, who's a trumpet player and composer. I've worked with him for probably almost ten years now. And um, through Wadada, actually, I have learned to become much more comfortable with improvising on stage and not within a jazz language of any kind or any kind of harmonic structure necessarily, but within the language of his music, which is very unique and very open and very free and, um, but also has a really strong core in its connection to history. And, um, you know, he's written a lot of amazing works about the civil rights movement and about a lot of, you know, important moments in history for our country. And, um, that's been a real learning experience for me to connect with him in that, in that way and learn from him and learn to be more comfortable with improvisation. Because I think growing up, improvisation for me always meant jazz, and that was not a language I was comfortable in. And um, or even, you know, jazz or rock music or folk music or whatever, you know, it was just not something that came naturally to me as a kid to, I mean, I listened to all of it. I listened to everything when I was a kid, but I never played in any of those styles. And I think the older you get, the scarier it gets to start branching out in those ways. But, um, I think, uh, that's been a an incredible, like, new branch of my life in the last decade has been working with Wadada.  [MUSIC – “Dred Scott, 1857,” from Ten Freedom Summers, by Wadada Leo Smith]  00:42:23 Isabel Li  An excerpt of Wadada Leo Smith's music to give you a sense of the jazz influences in these types of contemporary new music pieces that also touch on pieces of history. This was an excerpt from his album, Ten Freedom Summers, which also consists of compositions based on pieces of American history. For example, what we just heard was from a piece called Dred Scott, 1857.  00:42:49 Isabel Li  Now that I realize that we've been having a conversation about new music, I realize that, hmm, when does new music really start? So if you take a look at maybe music history, when does new music really become new music?  00:43:07 Shalini Vijayan  I guess it depends on who you ask, probably. Um, it's it's pretty recent. You know, it has to be really legitimately pretty new. And, um, again, you know, if you ask an audience member, um, and I think of some of my friends or family who are maybe who are not musicians who come to concerts, and I'm always so interested in talking to them and hearing their opinions about things. Um, you know, they will listen to Bartok and say, oh, that sounds like new music to me. But, you know, Bartok, Bartok passed away a long time ago, and it's, you know, and for me, that's more like canon now. You know, that's like now for me, part of the the standard repertoire. But there was a time when Bartok was new music. And I think for, you know, maybe the listeners who are more comfortable with the very diatonic, you know, world of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, then something like Bartok really does sound so modern for me. Boy, maybe around the time that minimalism started, you know, John Adams and Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, all of that for me feels like maybe that's the older like the The edge of new music now even though that was that would be the eighties, probably seventies 80s, you know, but that we're talking about like, you know, fifty years ago. So yeah, I mean, it's not that new, but those are all still living composers. So maybe, maybe that's part of what it is for me is that it's the composers of our era, the composers who are alive, who we can communicate with and ask questions of. And, um, you know, at the very least, if you can't talk to John Adams, you can talk to somebody who has worked directly with him and get their impressions of how something should be played, um, as opposed to composers who have been gone for hundreds of years. And you can't have that level of communication with them. I think that, for me is what new music, new music is about. It's about working with living composers and, um, having that type of interaction.  00:45:15 Isabel Li  Yeah. So would the word or the phrase contemporary classical music, be a little oxymoronic in a sense?  00:45:26 Shalini Vijayan  No, I don't think so. I think it's still part of the same tradition. Um, yeah. I really do think it is, because I think there is a lineage there. Um, for a lot of composers, not all of them, um, that I mean, I think particularly if you're writing for, let's say, an orchestra or a string quartet or sort of one of these very standard classical ensembles. Um, even if you're writing in a very new language and you're writing in a very different way, I think there is still a through line to the canon of classical music. I guess for me, new music and classical music are not mutually exclusive. I think they can be the same. So I don't I don't think they're totally different. I think that there is a lot of a lot of overlap.  00:46:16 Isabel Li  For sure, considering how new music fits into the classical music or the classical music industry as a whole. Have you noticed any sorts of shifts in the classical music industry in the past several decades in regards to diversity, equity, inclusion? And have you just noticed any changes?  00:46:35 Shalini Vijayan  I have noticed some changes. I mean, I think that most organizations in this country are making an effort to be more inclusive in their programming now. And, um, you know, another another South Asian composer who I just think is fantastic is Nina Shekhar. And, um, she has had pieces played by the New York Phil for the last couple seasons. I mean, you know, so on on major, major stages, I feel like now I'm seeing more representation and that is definitely Encouraging and, um, you know, uh, same for Anuj and Rajna and Reena. They've all, you know, had their works done by major ensembles. And, um, I think I think there is definitely movement in that direction, for sure. I think it could always be more.   I think also for women and women composers, women performers, I think that has also always been a struggle to find enough representation of women composers and you know, especially if like as I mentioned before, when you're in a situation where an organization asks you to program a concert, like, let's say, for our quartet and wants much more standard repertoire than it does limit you, you know, how because there isn't much from the older canon. You know, there is. You know, there's Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann and, um, you know, I think in the last five to ten years they've both been played a lot more, which is great. But, you know, I think, uh, there's so many amazing female composers right now that I think are starting to get much more recognition. And I think that just needs to be more, more and more, um, but, uh, you know, that is why, again, like on those programs, sometimes we try to just sneak one modern piece in because it's important for those voices to be heard as well. But yes, I do see some forward movement in that direction with, um, classical programming. And, you know, you just have to hope that the intent is always genuine in those situations. And I think, um, you know, I think that's the most important thing. And giving a platform to those voices is really important.  00:48:59 Isabel Li  How would you go about arts advocacy during this current time when, well, the arts are being defunded and devalued by our current administration and how everything is going on right now?  00:49:10 Shalini Vijayan  Yeah, it's really, really difficult right now. And, um, you know, I think a lot of arts organizations are losing a lot of government funding. Obviously, I know of a couple projects that lost their NEA funding because of DEI, and which is so disheartening. And, um, I think, you know, there's going to be a lot of leaning on private donors to try and, uh, make up that difference or, you know, private foundations to make up the difference in funding, hopefully. And, um, uh, you know, it's yeah, it's scary. It's  a scary time. And I think, you know, even for private funding and, um, private donors, it's, you know, everyone is feeling stressed and feeling concerned about our future right now, just as a country. and there's so much uncertainty. And, um, but I think people who really rely on the arts for all the things that it can provide, you know, an escape and pleasure and, you know, stimulation of a different kind. And especially in a time like this, when you want to be able to get away from maybe what's going on around you, you know, I'm hoping we can find a way to really come together and, um, kind of, you know, rally around each other and find a way to support each other. But, um, I think it is going to be hard for the next few years if we can't find ways to replace that funding that so many people have lost. And I certainly don't think that anyone wants to back away from the progress that's been made with inclusion and representation, you know, just to get funding. So I know we have to be very creative with our path ahead and find a way to, to keep doing what we're doing in this current environment.  00:51:07 Isabel Li  Yeah, on a brighter note, I read about your work with Lyris Quartet earlier this year when you presented a concert with Melodia Mariposa called Altadena Strong with the Lyris Quartet, raising funds for those who have been affected by the LA fires. Can you talk a bit about the power of music? And we're going to end on a stronger note here about the power of music in bringing communities together and accelerating community healing.  00:51:31 Shalini Vijayan  Well, I have to say that concert was really a special one for us. You know, um, so many musicians were affected by the fires in LA. And, you know, I, I've lived in LA for over twenty years now, almost twenty five years and, um, certainly seen my share of wildfires and disasters, but this one hit so much more close to home than any of the other ones have. And, you know, I know at least twenty five people who lost their homes in between the Palisades and Altadena and Altadena in particular.   When I moved to LA, it was a place where a lot of musicians were moving to because you could it was cheaper and you could get a lot of space, and it's beautiful. And, you know, they really built a beautiful community there among all the musicians out there. And it's just heartbreaking, um, to see how many of them have lost everything. And I have to say, Irina Voloshina, who is the woman who runs Melodia Mariposa, and just an amazing violinist and an amazing, wonderful, warm, generous person. You know, she started that series in her driveway during COVID as a way to just keep music going during the pandemic, and it really turned into something so great. And she's, you know, got a whole organization with her now and puts on multiple concerts a year. And when she asked us if we would play that concert for the community in Altadena is, you know, there's no question that we were going to do it. I mean, we absolutely jumped at the chance to support her and support the organization and that community. And people really came out for that concert and were so excited to be there and were so warm and, um, you know, and and she talked to the crowd and really connected with everybody on a very personal level, because she also lost her home in Altadena and, um, you know, it was it was a really meaningful show for all of us. And again, those are the moments where you realize that you can use this art to really connect with people that you may have never met before and show your your love for them, you know, through music, as corny as that may sound, but it's true.  00:53:54 Isabel Li  Yeah, definitely. Well, thank you so much, Shalini, for sharing your visions, your knowledge with new music and community building with us today. Thank you so much for being on Obbligato.  00:54:07 Shalini Vijayan  Thank you so much for having me, Isabel. It was really a pleasure.  00:54:10 Isabel Li  What a wonderful conversation that was with LA-based violinist Shalini Vijayan. If you go to kpfa.org, you can check out more of her work. I put the links to two of her ensembles, Brightwork New Music and Lyris Quartet up on kpfa.org. And thank you for listening to our conversation here on Obbligato on Apex Express.  00:54:32 Isabel Li  We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important.  00:54:42 Isabel Li  APEX Express is produced by Miko Lee, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Swati Rayasam, and Cheryl Truong. Tonight's show was produced by Isabel Li. Thanks to the team at KPFA for their support. Have a great night.  [OUTRO MUSIC]  The post APEX Express – 11.13.25 – Obbligato with Violinist Shalini Vijayan appeared first on KPFA.

This week on Duologue, Leslie sits down with actor, humanitarian, and true American patriot Gary Sinise, best known for his role as Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump, to talk about his life's mission of service.From his early work with Vietnam veterans to founding the Gary Sinise Foundation, Gary has dedicated decades to supporting our nation's defenders, veterans, first responders, and their families. In this heartfelt conversation, he shares how his journey from Hollywood success to humanitarian leadership began, the incredible work of the Foundation, and how the legacy of his late son, Mac, continues to inspire their mission.Leslie and Gary also discuss the Lt. Dan Band, the Foundation's Snowball Express program for Gold Star families, and the power of gratitude, purpose, and giving back.If you've ever wondered what true service looks like, this episode will remind you.Learn more or donate atgarysinisefoundation.org. New episodes of Duologue are released every Wednesday. Subscribe so you never miss a new one! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This episode is the perfect antidote to whatever you're feeling the day after election day… in today's episode, I sit down with two documentary filmmakers, Kahane Cooperman and Innbo Shim, to discuss their film, Creede USA.Creede is a small, remote mining town in Colorado that serves as a microcosm of differing political sides and debates that are happening more broadly in our country today.  The town consists of conservative mining families that have been there for generations, and more liberal, progressive theater people who come into town every summer for the past 60 years for their repertory theater company.  The documentary features many individuals and perspectives that live in this small town of 300, where residents are forced to confront each other's differing views.  The film covers the real-time school board meetings that are tackling some of the pressing political hot button debates and issues facing us today - from topics like guns in schools and gender identity curriculum. This film, and our conversation, explores how people can have vehemently opposing political views, YET still maintain respect for and civility toward one another, and in doing so have created a strong and thriving community in Creede. Creede USA is an amazing independent film… this story and the two amazing female filmmakers behind this story are truly inspirational. This is an episode you won't want to miss!Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

After surviving a shark attack that nearly took her life, Ali Truwit set a bold goal—to compete in the Paralympics exactly one year later. Not only did she make the U.S. team, she brought home two silver medals, broke two world records, and inspired millions.In this episode, we talk about resilience, friendship, and how Ali turned tragedy into purpose through her Stronger Than You Think Foundation. Her story is a reminder that we're all stronger than we think. Listen, watch, join the conversation! For more insider content, subscribe to Duologue Diaries on Substack! This episode is sponsored by Corroon: Use code "DUOLOGUE" for 20% off your purchase

I am so thrilled to be back and to announce that The Interview with Leslie Heaney's new name is Duologue with Leslie Heaney!A duologue is a conversation between two people (although while sometimes my interviews include more than one guest) and this new name for the pod summarizes what we do - having conversations with really interesting people who have inspirational life stories or great wisdom or expert information to share.In addition to the new name, I will be launching a Substack - Duologue Diaries! The Duologue Diaries will have some free content and then more exclusive subscriber only content, access and special subscriber giveaways. You will not want to miss it! We also have launched great new merch for Duologue - come buy your new favorite Duo swag and represent the pod! www.duologuepod.comMy first new Duologue episode will be released tomorrow, Wednesday October 15th.Listen, watch subscribe! Get inspired. Learn something new. Share some laughs along the way.

ICYMI, Jonathan Macri & Benjy Ritholtz's opening DUOLOGUE from Thursday night's KFS Postgame Show recapping Game 5 of the Knicks Eastern Conference Finals series against the Indiana Pacers. JOIN KNICKS FILM SCHOOL AT FANATICS FEST ON JUNE 20-22! GO TO FANATICSFEST.COM & USE PROMO CODE "KNICKSFILMSCHOOL20" TO GET 20% OFF YOUR TICKET PRICE BEFORE JUNE 4TH!!!!PLEASE HELP KFS WITH OUR NEW PARTNERS BY COMPLETING THIS SURVEY!Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel!FOLLOW MACRI - @JCMacriNBAFOLLOW BENJY - @BenRitholtzNBASIGN UP FOR THE NEW BRUNSON TIER ON PATREON TO GET BONUS CONTENT FROM BENJY & DJ!FOR AN AD-FREE, UNINTERRUPTED VERSION OF THIS EPISODE, SIGN UP FOR THE MELO TIER ON PATREON!CHECK OUT THE KFS MERCH STORE!SPONSORS:SHOUTOUT TO OUR PRESENTING SPONSOR - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THE FANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL PLAYOFFS LONG!SHOP SKIMS MENS AT SKIMS.COM & LET THEM KNOW WE SENT YOU! AFTER YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER, SELECT "PODCAST" IN THE SURVEY & SELECT "KNICKS FILM SCHOOL" IN THE DROPDOWN MENU THAT FOLLOWS!

ICYMI, Jonathan Macri & DJ Zullo's opening DUOLOGUE from Tuesday night's KFS Postgame Show recapping Game 4 of the Knicks Eastern Conference Finals series against the Indiana Pacers.JOIN KNICKS FILM SCHOOL AT FANATICS FEST ON JUNE 20-22! GO TO FANATICSFEST.COM & USE PROMO CODE "KNICKSFILMSCHOOL20" TO GET 20% OFF YOUR TICKET PRICE BEFORE JUNE 4TH!!!!PLEASE HELP KFS WITH OUR NEW PARTNERS BY COMPLETING THIS SURVEY!Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel!FOLLOW MACRI - @JCMacriNBAFOLLOW DJ - @DJAceNBASIGN UP FOR THE NEW BRUNSON TIER ON PATREON TO GET BONUS CONTENT FROM BENJY & DJ!FOR AN AD-FREE, UNINTERUPTED VERSION OF THIS EPISODE, SIGN UP FOR THE MELO TIER ON PATREON!CHECK OUT THE KFS MERCH STORE!SPONSORS:SHOUTOUT TO OUR PRESENTING SPONSOR - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THE FANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL PLAYOFFS LONG!

ICYMI, Jonathan Macri & Jeff Johnson's opening DUOLOGUE from Sunday night's KFS Postgame Show recapping Game 3 of the Knicks Eastern Conference Finals series against the Indiana Pacers.JOIN KNICKS FILM SCHOOL AT FANATICS FEST ON JUNE 20-22! GO TO FANATICSFEST.COM & USE PROMO CODE "KNICKSFILMSCHOOL20" TO GET 20% OFF YOUR TICKET PRICE BEFORE MAY 26TH!!!!PLEASE HELP KFS WITH OUR NEW PARTNERS BY COMPLETING THIS SURVEY!Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel!FOLLOW MACRI - @JCMacriNBAFOLLOW JEFF - @JeffJSaysSIGN UP FOR THE NEW BRUNSON TIER ON PATREON TO GET BONUS CONTENT FROM BENJY & DJ!FOR AN AD-FREE, UNINTERUPTED VERSION OF THIS EPISODE, SIGN UP FOR THE MELO TIER ON PATREON!CHECK OUT THE KFS MERCH STORE!SPONSORS:SHOUTOUT TO OUR PRESENTING SPONSOR - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THE FANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL PLAYOFFS LONG!

ICYMI, Jonathan Macri & DJ Zullo's opening DUOLOGUE from Friday night's KFS Postgame Show recapping Game 2 of the Knicks Eastern Conference Finals series against the Indiana Pacers.JOIN KNICKS FILM SCHOOL AT FANATICS FEST ON JUNE 20-22! GO TO FANATICSFEST.COM & USE PROMO CODE "KNICKSFILMSCHOOL20" TO GET 20% OFF YOUR TICKET PRICE BEFORE MAY 26TH!!!!PLEASE HELP KFS WITH OUR NEW PARTNERS BY COMPLETING THIS SURVEY!Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel!FOLLOW MACRI - @JCMacriNBAFOLLOW DJ - @DJAceNBASIGN UP FOR THE NEW BRUNSON TIER ON PATREON TO GET BONUS CONTENT FROM BENJY & DJ!FOR AN AD-FREE, UNINTERRUPTED VERSION OF THIS EPISODE, SIGN UP FOR THE MELO TIER ON PATREON!CHECK OUT THE KFS MERCH STORE!SPONSORS:SHOUTOUT TO OUR PRESENTING SPONSOR - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! DOWNLOAD THE FANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP AND LET THE FANCASH FLOW, WIN OR LOSE! - JOINFANATICS.COM/KFSGIVE CORNBREAD HEMP A TRY! GET 30% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER BY VISITING CORNBREADHEMP.COM/KFS AND USE PROMO CODE “KFS” AT CHECKOUT. 

ICYMI, Jonathan Macri & Benjy Ritholtz's opening DUOLOGUE from Wednesday night's KFS Postgame Show recapping Game 1 of the Knicks Eastern Conference Finals series against the Indiana Pacers.PLEASE HELP KFS WITH OUR NEW PARTNERS BY COMPLETING THIS SURVEY!Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel!FOLLOW MACRI - @JCMacriNBAFOLLOW BENJY - @BenRitholtzNBASIGN UP FOR THE NEW BRUNSON TIER ON PATREON TO GET BONUS CONTENT FROM BENJY & DJ!FOR AN AD-FREE, UNINTERRUPTED VERSION OF THIS EPISODE, SIGN UP FOR THE MELO TIER ON PATREON!CHECK OUT THE KFS MERCH STORE!SPONSORS:SHOUTOUT TO OUR PRESENTING SPONSOR - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! DOWNLOAD THE FANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP AND LET THE FANCASH FLOW, WIN OR LOSE! - JOINFANATICS.COM/KFS

ICYMI, Jonathan Macri & Benjy Ritholtz's opening DUOLOGUE from Wednesday night's KFS Postgame Show recapping Game 5 of the Knicks playoff series vs the Boston Celtics.PLEASE HELP KFS WITH OUR NEW PARTNERS BY COMPLETING THIS SURVEY!Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel!FOLLOW MACRI - @JCMacriNBAFOLLOW BENJY - @BenRitholtzNBAFOLLOW GMAC - @AndrewJClaudio_SIGN UP FOR THE NEW BRUNSON TIER ON PATREON TO GET BONUS CONTENT FROM BENJY & DJ!FOR AN AD-FREE, UNINTERRUPTED VERSION OF THIS EPISODE, SIGN UP FOR THE MELO TIER ON PATREON!CHECK OUT THE KFS MERCH STORE!SPONSORS:SHOUTOUT TO OUR PRESENTING SPONSOR - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! DOWNLOAD THE FANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP AND LET THE FANCASH FLOW, WIN OR LOSE! - JOINFANATICS.COM/KFSSHOP SKIMS MENS AT SKIMS.COM & LET THEM KNOW WE SENT YOU! AFTER YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER, SELECT "PODCAST" IN THE SURVEY & SELECT "KNICKS FILM SCHOOL" IN THE DROPDOWN MENU THAT FOLLOWS!

Tracklist: 1 Haze Magnetic Family 2 Disconnected ELECGROUND 3 Tweakend HARDFLOOR 4 Open Hearts (with Alto Astral) Christopher Erre 5 Aer8 MAZE 28 6 Exit (Original Mix) Hector Cortes, Hassan Maroofi, Jaime Garza 7 Glowing Pepe Rubino 8 Underworld (Tom Demac Remix) Edu Imbernon & Duologue, Duologue, Edu Imbernon 9 All By Myself (Original Mix) Mita Gami 10 Higher (Extended Mix) BLOND:ISH, Black Circle 11 Kettenkarussell - Maybe [Silinder Edit] Silinder Edit 12 You Might Be Closer Than You Think Laurence Guy 13 Me & You (Original Mix) Gentleman (DJ)

Is the ​Paranormal a real thing? Find out with John Olsen. John has lived in a haunted house in Bridger​land, Utah ​when he was very young and has ​ been tracking down paranormal incidents for most of his life.​His books are full of stories about people who have encountered the ​Paranormal in all sorts of ways.

While looking for people who do 'Unusual Jobs' we found 'First Piper' Ross OC Jennings who travels the world playing the Bagpipes.Are there really people who enjoy the sound of Bagpipes?I bet you didn't think that those harsh, ear drum splitting, droney instruments could give you access to just about every country in the world.How he gets there? Who he sees? How airport security and the police see him.All this and more ...

The British YoYo Association was founded by Luke Roberts and a couple of colleagues and it has become part of a world wide phenomenon of Regional, National, European and Asian competitions.Who would have thought that a piece of string, with a bit of wood wrapped round the end of it, could make it so big?We found Luke Roberts, while looking for 'unusual sports' and he truly is an expert with the YoYo.This 'Toy' usually has an upsurge of popularity once a decade, so look out for what's coming next...

This is Season 6 Episode 6.. Mikey's just can't count. We didn't have a description for this episode, so we got Chat GPT to write us one.. some of it may even be true: Welcome to the latest episode of "The Hawkins and Jaeger Podcast"! This week, we dive into some interesting topics, starting with the latest news and updates from the world of cinema. Specifically, we take a closer look at the poor audience reception to the highly anticipated film, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania". We examine why some audiences may be disappointed with the film and compare it to another popular movie franchise, "Spy Kids 3D". As always, we take a critical and analytical approach to our discussion, examining the nuances of the film industry and exploring what makes a movie truly successful. Next, we discuss the difference between monologues and duologues, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of both styles of performance. Moving on to food, we discuss the intriguing idea of Japanese and Caribbean fusion cuisine. We also take a look at the "LonLonRancher" cookbook, and explore some of the unique recipes it has to offer! We also delve into the topic of "the void" that people experience when finishing an anime or TV series, and explore why audiences often feel a sense of emptiness when a beloved series comes to an end. Shifting gears, we discuss the Marvel Projects on Disney+ and take a moment to appreciate the undeniable attractiveness of Jonathan Majors and Michael B. Jordan. We then turn to our listener's comments, responding to some of their questions and feedback. We also share some personal ghost stories, and discuss the possibility of alien abductions. If we were to be abducted by aliens, what would we do? Our answer might surprise you! Tune in to "The Hawkins and Jaeger Podcast" for all this and more!

I often talk about how much I love being a part of the photo community. I have made such amazing friends being around this world of creativity, and today's show is the product of those friendships. There are times that this community starts to feel like "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", and I love that. A few weeks ago I had Kersten Luts on the show to talk about Creative Portraits & Headshots, and that show happened because of our mutual friend Dave Williams. Dave has been on my show a few times, and introduced Kersten and I because he knew his two friends, both of whom have podcasts, would enjoy chatting.  Well, within a day of recording with Kersten he emailed to introduce me to Nina Welch-Kling, saying he thought she would be an amazing guest on Behind the Shot. That chain of introductions is what made today's show possible, because as soon as I saw Nina's work I knew I had to try and get her on the show. Nina Welch-Kling is a New York City-based photographer, originally from a small town in southern Germany. Her background in fine art and architecture combined with a love for roaming the city streets inform her photographic depictions of everyday life. ​ ​She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Master of Architecture from The University of California, Los Angeles. Now living in New York City she continues to explore creative outlets defined by her passion for photography. Looking at her portfolio, her fine art background shows. Her work has feeling, and emotion, built-in. One of her projects, Duologues, instantly jumped out at me. She describes the project this way: I love to wander the streets and observe people. My series, Duologues, records fragments of these encounters. It is a play between two images creating meanings belonging to neither— a discovery process each viewer interprets differently. Reminiscent of the idea of synchronicity, an idea that describes meaningful coincidences, my pairings intentionally produce uncanny relationships. Shooting intuitively and spontaneously, my eyes lock onto the unusual, the outstanding, and even the mundane. Frequently, dramatic lighting shapes the photographs. I collect the unrelated pieces like stems in a wildflower field - disconnected, yet bound together by their place of origin. The visuals seem familiar but particulars will distinguish them from the common. I match the images by playing a game of Memory: finding in each image shapes, gestures, and symbols that rhyme. The rhyming may occur within the major elements in the image, such as the subject, or in minute details that otherwise might go unnoticed. By pairing two photos that occurred at different moments in time, the story that emerges can bring them together. The final sequence feels deeply connected, even though the encounters on the street were random. The idea of doing diptychs based on the connection of shapes, gestures, and symbols in two images is wonderful, and she is a master at these pairings. So much so that choosing the subject for today's show wasn't easy. There are some sets that just connected to me on first glance, with color, or movement that draws the eye. Still, after much thought, I asked if we could discuss todays Duologue because the use of shape, shadow, and composition really stuck with me, for days after seeing it. On this episode, I'm joined by New York based photographer Nina Welch-Kling to talk about her Duologues project - a set of images displayed as diptychs with shapes, gestures, and symbols that rhyme. Connect with Nina Website: ninaklingphotography.com Instagram: @ninakling Facebook: @nina.w.kling Twitter: @NinaWK Nina's Book Duologues: ninaklingphotography.com Nina's Photographer Pick Harry Gruyaert: harrygruyaert-film.com Steve's Whiskey Pick The Prideful Goat 6 yr Rye: gianttexas.com Bourbon Real Talk: bourbonrealtalk.com | @bourbonrealtalk

FunkQuest with a North Korean AmbassadorYou are going to need a secure line to watch this FunkQuest episode. Make sure you are not being watched or overheard. This could be very stressful. At least that is what Ex-diplomat John Everard has had to contend with over many years as a british ambassador, not only toNorth Korea but Uraguay too. Its not exactly 'Bond 007' but sleep deprivation, minute to minute planning, and alcohol are all part of the JobQuestion 1John chose the 'Parrot'How do you communicate with your boss?Question 2The 'Castle' was his next choiceHow did your previous jobs prepare you for this one?Question 3The 'Elephant family' came nextWhat previous jobs have you done?Question 4John picked the 'Grey Sofa'What is the most frustrating part of the Job?Question 5 The 'flower basket'What made you want to quit?Question 6John wanted the 'Twin Dolls'What motivates you to keep showing up?You are going to need a secure line to watch this FunkQuest episode. That's what ​former diplomat John Everard has had to contend with over many years as a British ambassador, ​not only to North Korea but Uraguay too. Its not exactly 'Bond 007' but sleep deprivation, minute to minute planning, and alcohol are a​ll part of the job!Play Funkquest Yourself: https://funkythinkers.com/funkquest/Never miss a FunkQuest episode: Listen on Spreaker: Listen on Spotify: https://funkythinkers.com/spotifyFollow us on Twitter for more updates: https://twitter.com/funkythinkers

If you have ever felt like poking someone in the eye, then Evan Walters is the man to help you do it. (No not really)Evan Walters is the Commisioner of the "World Knife Throwing League (WKTL.)" Using specially made knives with blunt blades but sharp points this sport is in fact very user friendly for people of all ages.Question 1'Barb picked the building'Where would you go naked?Evan Chose the 'Binoculars'When do you always want to beat yourself?Question 2Barb liked the 'Toad'How do you contribute to a better society?Evan picked the 'Pastries'What do you do differently to other people?Question 3Barb wanted the 'Man in the Ushanka' (Russian Hat)How often do you talk to strangers?Evan was persuaded into choosing the 'Solar System'What have you invented?Question 4Barb chose 'The River Scene'Where or when would you go in a Time-machine?Evan picked the 'Paint Blobs'Which historical figure would you most like to meet?Question 5Barb wanted the 'Red and Green Peppers'What talent do you wish you had?Evan chose the 'London Underground Icon'What shop would you shop at if it was the only one you could use?​What is FunkQuest ?FunkQuest is a fun interactive online conversation game that features five rounds.Funksters (players) view a board containing 20 individual icons (pictures) Funksters select an icon from the board which most tweaks their interest. Each Funky icon, when chosen reveals a Funky question, which may or may not be related to the icon.Potential Funksters, have to think on their feet, answering the question within the strict time limit of one minute. We are looking for answers which might include; insights, useful and amusing snippets, and things we just didn't know. We call this FUNK.The winner - based on audience votes - goes through to the next round of the Funkquest series.What's so good about FUNKQUEST ​?The strict time limit does not allow funksters to give; multi-headed, long, complicated and self indulgent stories - just short punchy bite-sized truly Funky ideas, as we GET THE FUNK OUT!You get to hear new ideas and speakers from outside your usual network, which truly qualifies as FUNKY.​Funky Thinkers know that IDEAS only come from free-flowing CONVERSATION.To make sure you never miss a FunkQuest episode - click https://funkythinkers.com/youtubeWhat did you think ? Leave a comment

Team GB bobsledder Nikki McSweeney took a break from sliding down icy runways to stop by and talk to us on FunkQuest.​What is FunkQuest ?FunkQuest is a fun interactive online conversation game that features five rounds.Funksters (players) view a board containing 20 individual icons (pictures) Funksters select an icon from the board which most tweaks their interest. Each Funky icon, when chosen reveals a Funky question, which may or may not be related to the icon.Potential Funksters, have to think on their feet, answering the question within the strict time limit of one minute. We are looking for answers which might include; insights, useful and amusing snippets, and things we just didn't know. We call this FUNK.What's so good about FUNKQUEST ​?The strict time limit does not allow funksters to give; multi-headed, long, complicated and self indulgent stories - just short punchy bite-sized truly Funky ideas, as we GET THE FUNK OUT!You get to hear new ideas and speakers from outside your usual network, which truly qualifies as FUNKY.​Funky Thinkers know that IDEAS only come from free-flowing CONVERSATION.To make sure you never miss a FunkQuest episode - click https://funkythinkers.com/youtube

3 x world dominos champion Travis Newsome drops by FunkQuest to share some funk with us.Travis got a prescription from his Doctor so he can play dominos every day...We find out what it is like at the domino world championship. Is trash talking (sledging) allowed?Travis explains how some of students are now beating him (so he isn't that smart after all)...Question 1Joshua chose the 'Apples'How well can you read a map?Travis chose to answer the same questionQuestion 2Joshua picked the 'Camel'What was your first computer?Travis decided on the TuxedoWhere do you visit the internet most?Question 3Joshua wanted the 'Swimmer'Where do you exercise?Travis went for the 'Soccer Ball'What old person thing do you do?Question 4 Joshua liked the 'Boat'What are you most grateful for?Travis wanted to answer the same questionQuestion 5Joshua picked the 'Wedding'When have you been on TV or Radio?Travis chose the'Eggs'What can you talk all day about?

Shawny Hill plays FunkQuest with Stephen Miller MBE , a British athlete who competes in the fields of Paralympic club and discus throwing. He has won three gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in the F32/51 club throw at the Paralympics. In Paralympic F32/51 discus he won one bronze medal. Question 1 Shawny picked the 'Fox'What do you think you could give a one hour lecture on with no preperation?Stephen Chose the 'Amphitheatre'What letters are on the bottom line of a keyboard? Question 2Shawny liked the 'Motorbike'What was the first album you bought with your own money?Stephen went for the 'Horse Rider'What would you show to extra terrestrials as an accurate depiction of the world?Question 3Shawny chose the 'Wax Crayons'Where is the worst place you got lost?Stephen picked the 'Ladies Hockey'What was the worst DIY you have done?Question 4Shawny went for the 'Pizza'What would you do with £/$/€ 100 if you found it in the street?Stephen plumped for the 'Wellingtons'What is the most ridiculous thing you have recieved?Question 5Shawny decided on the 'Yoga Ladies'Which car would be your dream car?Stephen chose the 'Teacup'What do you think about before going to sleep?What is FunkQuest ?FunkQuest is a fun interactive online conversation game that features five rounds.Funksters (players) view a board containing 20 individual icons (pictures) Funksters select an icon from the board which most tweaks their interest. Each Funky icon, when chosen reveals a Funky question, which may or may not be related to the icon.Potential Funksters, have to think on their feet, answering the question within the strict time limit of one minute. We are looking for answers which might include; insights, useful and amusing snippets, and things we just didn't know. We call this FUNK.The winner - based on audience votes - goes through to the next round of the Funkquest series.What's so good about FUNKQUEST ​?The strict time limit does not allow funksters to give; multi-headed, long, complicated and self indulgent stories - just short punchy bite-sized truly Funky ideas, as we GET THE FUNK OUT!You get to hear new ideas and speakers from outside your usual network, which truly qualifies as FUNKY.​Funky Thinkers know that IDEAS only come from free-flowing CONVERSATION.To make sure you never miss a FunkQuest episode - click https://funkythinkers.com/youtubeWhat did you think ? Leave a comment

A special brain training episode of FunkQuest - Brett Smitheram World Champion scrabble player v Johannes Mallow a world champion of memory games These two certainly know how to use their heads​What is FunkQuest ?FunkQuest is a fun interactive online conversation game that features five rounds.Funksters (players) view a board containing 20 individual icons (pictures) Funksters select an icon from the board which most tweaks their interest. Each Funky icon, when chosen reveals a Funky question, which may or may not be related to the icon.Potential Funksters, have to think on their feet, answering the question within the strict time limit of one minute. We are looking for answers which might include; insights, useful and amusing snippets, and things we just didn't know. We call this FUNK.The winner - based on audience votes - goes through to the next round of the Funkquest series.What's so good about FUNKQUEST ​?The strict time limit does not allow funksters to give; multi-headed, long, complicated and self indulgent stories - just short punchy bite-sized truly Funky ideas, as we GET THE FUNK OUT!You get to hear new ideas and speakers from outside your usual network, which truly qualifies as FUNKY.​Funky Thinkers know that IDEAS only come from free-flowing CONVERSATION.To make sure you never miss a FunkQuest episode - click https://funkythinkers.com/youtubeWhat did you think ? Leave a comment

Global explorer, marathon runner, part time Ironman and century cyclist Sally Orange joins us on FunkQuest with established Funkster and friend of the show, Steve Judge.Question 1Sally chose the 'Gas'What would your family assume you had been arrested for?Steve went fo the 'Chairs'How important is a diary to you?Question 2 Sally picked the 'Books'Which do you prefer, fiction or non-fiction books?Steve chose the 'Vulture'How long can you concentrate for?Question 3Sally liked the 'Camels'When did you last Hitch-hike?Steve picked the 'Bed Feet'What is the best video on You Tube?Question 4Sally went for the 'School bag'How do you know that the earth is round?Steve liked the look of the 'Treasure Chest'How much bling do you wear when you go out?Question 5Sally chose the'Sunflower'What is something you feel too old to do?Steve picked the 'Water Droplet'What would you keep behind a moveable bookcase?​What is FunkQuest ?FunkQuest is a fun interactive online conversation game that features five rounds.Funksters (players) view a board containing 20 individual icons (pictures) Funksters select an icon from the board which most tweaks their interest. Each Funky icon, when chosen reveals a Funky question, which may or may not be related to the icon.Potential Funksters, have to think on their feet, answering the question within the strict time limit of one minute. We are looking for answers which might include; insights, useful and amusing snippets, and things we just didn't know. We call this FUNK.The winner - based on audience votes - goes through to the next round of the Funkquest series.What's so good about FUNKQUEST ​?The strict time limit does not allow funksters to give; multi-headed, long, complicated and self indulgent stories - just short punchy bite-sized truly Funky ideas, as we GET THE FUNK OUT!You get to hear new ideas and speakers from outside your usual network, which truly qualifies as FUNKY.​Funky Thinkers know that IDEAS only come from free-flowing CONVERSATION.To make sure you never miss a FunkQuest episode - click https://funkythinkers.com/youtubeWhat did you think ? Leave a comment

Jonathan and Josh play FUNKQUEST with Johannes Mallow, the 2012 World Memory Champion and holder of seven memory sports world records. We put his skills to the test by asking him to memorise 20 random words and recall them at the end of the show.Question 1Joshua chose the 'Dog'How handy is a dishwasher?Johannes picked the 'Car'How much of what you learned at school helps you now?Question 2Joshua wanted the 'Cyclists'How long have you gone without sleep?Johannes liked the 'Old Map and Compass'Which text book from school did you never return?Question 3Joshua picked the 'Red Shoes'How much is success based on luck or hard work?Johannes chose the 'Polar Bears'What helps you concentrate?Question 4Joshua plumped for the 'Goose'When did you last use a public telephone?Johannes picked the 'Snake'When did you go to a major sporting event?Question 5Josh wanted the 'Books'What was the largest meal you ever had?Johannes chose the 'Treasure Chest'How close have you been to the South Pole?

It is the final of FunkQuest season 5. One of these funksters is going to be crowned the Grand Champion. But who?Question 1Carmel chose the 'Strawberry Cake'What sauces do you put on a hot dog?Shawny picked the 'Lion'Who makes the first move at getting back in touch?Question 2Carmel liked the 'Trainers'What is your favourite show on TV?Shawny went for the 'Tiger Stripes'What do your friends have in common?Question 3Carmel picked the 'Paints'Where have you been on a boat?Shawny decided on the 'Pyramids'How many books did you read last year?Question 4Carmel wanted the'Grapes'What makes you feel insecure?Shawny picked the 'Oops Girl'What is the worst thing to happen before going on Holiday?Question 5Carmel chose the 'Whole World'When was the last time you wrote a cheque?Shawny went for the 'Mountain Scene'What irritates you most about your neighbours?

Question 1​Carmel Chose the 'Pumpkins'​How do you take losing?​Bobby chose the GazeboWhere were you on 31st December 1999?​​​​Question 2​Carmel picked the 'Yellow fish'​Where can you see the best views?​Bobby liked the 'red shoes' (an homage to the Wizard of OZ)What makes you stop scrolling?​Question3​Carmel decided upon the 'Wind Turbines'When did you last get stuck in a queue?​With an Italian Background Bobby had the 'Las​agne'When did you last go behind the scenes somewhere?​​Question 4​Carmel liked the 'Daisy'Which animal should gain the power of speech?​Bobby Chose the 'Husky Dog'When does time pass slowly for you?​Question 5​Carmel Chose the 'Lorry'​What clich​é winds you up the most?​Bobby picked the 'Statue of Liberty'What needs to be modernised?

Question 1Shawny chose the 'Pizza'When have you seen a ghost?Dan picked the 'Gold Bars'Which is the best musuem you have been to?Question 2Shawny decided on the 'Peace Sign'What achievement are you most proud of?Dan went for the 'Fruit'What was your worst mistake in a new Job?Question 3Shawny picked the 'Tents'What expectations do you have of yourself and others?Dan Chose the 'Thermometer'What is the best T-shirt you own?Question 4Shawny liked the 'Jellyfish'What sound do you like the least?Dan went for the 'Stamps'When was the last time you took a Taxi?Question 5Shawny picked the 'Cliff-top Scene'How decisive or indecisive are you?Dan chose the 'Kitten'Who would be the narrator of your life?

Question 1Allison picked the 'Yoyo'What is the most important job you have had?Carmel chose the 'Pink Blossom'How fast can you learn something new?Question 2Allison decided on the 'Woman playing guitar'Where would you build a secret Hideout?Carmel liked the 'Niagra Falls'Where would you want your ashes spread?Question 3Allison chose the 'Pinyata'What would you ask an 'all knowing' crystal ball?Carmel was sure she had a 'Swiss Army knife' just like itWhat would you invent?Question 4Allison picked the 'Butterfly'When was the last time you went swimming?Carmel decided on the 'Street Scene'Where was the worst place your phone battery died?Question 5Allison Chose the 'Giraffe'What was the oddest thing you saw in public?Carmel chose the 'Glass House'Who is your favourite author?

Question 1Joshua chose the 'Las Vegas Sign'What is your favourite Take Away/Take Out?Bobby Chose the ' SewingThreads and Tape'How do you cheer someone up?Question 2Joshua picked the 'Village on Stilts'Where do you think you will never go?Bobby decided on the Yellow Flowers'What is the most ridiculous thing you wore?Question 3Joshua chose the 'Sheep'What do you do when nobody is looking?Bobby remembered his time in England and picked 'Tower Bridge'What things do you have a collection of?Question 4Joshua liked the 'Sea Plane'When did you last do a Quiz?Bobby zoomed in on the 'Dog'What was the longest you queued for?Question 5Joshua went for the 'Test Tubes'When did you last get good news?Bobby picked the 'Fish and Chips'How do you keep fit?

Question 1Dan chose the 'DJ Record Base'Where does your mind wander?Jason picked the 'Snowman'Where does shopping rank in your life?Question 2Dan went for the 'Beagle Dog'Where is your favourite panoramic view?Jason chose the 'Golf Putt'What is your favourite sandwich?Question 3Dan liked the 'Chess Piece'What would you change your name to?Jason chose 'The Hot Air Balloon'What do you wish people would stop asking you?Question 4Dan after a flash of inspiration went with the 'Bow Tie'When did you pass your driving test?Jason liked the 'Sushi'When did you eat too much?Question 5Dan picked the 'Old House'Which language do you wish you could speak fluently?Jason chose the 'Flamingo'If you could take a single photo of your life what would be in it?

Question 1Andrew went first and chose 'The Cogs'Where do you keep your guests away from?Shawny chose the 'waterfall'How many times have you moved house?Question 2Andrew picked the 'pile of burgers'Which are better big parties or small gathering?Shawny liked the 'Snowscape'Where were you when you last got angry?Question 3Andrew took a shine to the 'Action Figure'What commandment would you add to the 10?Shawny picked the 'Fast Car'Which TV series have you binged on?Question 4Andrew chose the 'Toy Bricks'When did you have to complain about the service?Shawny picked 'The Playground'When was the last time you made a snowman?Question 5The 'Space Nebula' was chosen by AndrewWhat's the worst thing you have been late for?Shawny chose the 'Treasure Chest'How often do you win things?

​What is FunkQuest ?Funkquest is a fun interactive online conversation game that features five rounds.Funksters (players) view a board containing 20 individual icons (pictures) Funksters select an icon from the board which most tweaks their interest. Each Funky icon, when chosen reveals a Funky question, which may or may not be related to the icon.Potential Funksters, have to think on their feet, answering the question within the strict time limit of one minute. We are looking for answers which might include; insights, useful and amusing snippets, and things we just didn't know. We call this FUNK.The winner - based on audience votes - goes through to the next round of the Funkquest series.What's so good about FUNKQUEST ​?The strict time limit does not allow funksters to give; multi-headed, long, complicated and self indulgent stories - just short punchy bite-sized truly Funky ideas, as we GET THE FUNK OUT!You get to hear new ideas and speakers from outside your usual network, which truly qualifies as FUNKY.​Funky Thinkers know that IDEAS only come from free-flowing CONVERSATION.To make sure you never miss a FunkQuest episode - click https://funkythinkers.com/youtubeWhat did you think ? Leave a commentThe questions the funksters tackled are below.What was the best dining experience you have ever had?,How many piercings do you have?,What was your proudest moment?,How much of something is too much?,What was the last TV series you binge watched?,Where is the best place to find you at 10am on a Sunday Morning?,When was the last time you said "I told you so",What smal changes led to a big difference?,What type of Phone do you have?,How would the world change if superheroes really existed?

Question 1JR chose the 'Horses'Which past trend are you glad is no longer around?Joshua picked the 'Binoculars'When have you always wanted to beat yourself?Question 2JR decided on the 'Camper Van'When was the last time you donated to charity?Joshua chose the 'Pasties'What do you do differently to other people?Question 3JR went for the 'Ushanka' (Russian Hat)How often do you talk to strangers?Joshua chose the 'Old Fisherman'Which Teenager thing do you do?Question 4JR liked the 'River Scene'Where or when would you go in a time machine?Joshua plumped for the 'Paint Blobs'Which historical figure would you most like to meet?Question 5JR chose the 'Green Peppers'What talent do you wish you had?Joshua picked the 'London Underground Sign'Which store would you shop at if it was the only one you could use?

Question 1Ben chose the 'Skirts'What could you cook in your sleep?Josh chose the 'Jungle worker'Where does Happiness come from?Question 2Ben picked the 'Shoes'When did you last back out of something?Josh plumped for the' Alphabet'When was the last time you had a flat tyre?Question 3The 'SpaceShuttle' was the next choice for BenWhen did you last go somewhere as a VIP?Joshua decided on the 'Mask'When did you last grumble under your breath but held your tongue?Question 4Ben chose the 'Surgeons'How much was your most expensive meal?Joshua related to the 'Messy Desk'What is your most guilty pleasure?Question 5Ben picked the 'Sunset'What is the best thing you ever bought from a Charity shop?Joshua Chose the 'Lighthouse'When was the last time you switched off your Phone?

Question 1 Cathy chose the 'Jaguar'What language do you wish you could speak?Vicki Chose the 'Astronaut'What is the most outrageous thing you want to achieve?Question 2Cathy liked the 'stained glass spiral'Where do you keep your old photographs?Vicki picked the 'Balloons'How many 'James Bonds' can you name?Question 3Cathy wanted the 'Brunch'What is weird about you?Vicki picked the 'picnic'What's the worst thing to hear before buying a House?Question 4Cathy chose the 'Camera'When did someone last pull the wool over your eyes?Vicki decided on the 'Rocky Beach'Where do you keep your guests away from?Question5The 'Red costume' intrigued CathyWhen have you ridden a horse?Vicki liked the 'Bike Ride'Where were you in December 1999?

Which of these ladies is through to the SEMI-FINAL of FunkQuest season 4?Question 1Randi chose the 'Trees'How good are you at working in a team?Katie chose the 'Buns'When is it OK to finish early?Question 2Randi picked the 'Rolling Waves'What is the most expensive thing you bought 'THAT DIDN'T WORK'?Katie chose the 'Peacock'What does the surface of Mars smell like?Question 3The 'VW Campervan' was the next choice for RandiWhen did style just have to go out of the window?Katie plumped for the 'Pineapples'What makes you feel awkward?Question 4Randi picked the 'Carousel'When did you have to accept a decision?Katie liked the 'Techno picture'When was the last time you said something you regretted?Question 5Randi went for the 'Boatplane'When was the last time you went on a boat

Question 1​Karina was the first funkster to play and chose 'The Hurdlers'What excites you right now?​Barb chose the 'Shuttlecock'When did you go over/ underdressed to an event?​Question 2​Karina ​picked the '​Motorbike​'What was the first item you bought with your own money?​Barb decided on the 'Rainbow'​What do you do during a power cut?Question 3​Karina picked the​ 'Waves'When was the last time a stranger was kind to you?​Barb was very verbal about the 'Mountain Sheep'What is something everyone should know by aged 10?​Question 4​Karina chose the '​Scenic View'How would you keep away an attacker?​Barb picked the 'Muscle man'What is the most dialled number on your phone?​Question 5​Karina ​went for the ​'Water bottles'What trendy phrase from TV do you have to stop yourself from saying?​Barb chose the 'Trainer shoes'When was the last time you camped out?

Question 1Joshua beg​an the game by choosing the 'Pizza slice'What is your biggest regret?Lora chose the 'Rose'Where did you last lose your car keys?Question 2Joshua chose the 'football players'What is the worst thing you did in someone else's house?Lora chose the 'Trick Cyclist'How often did you get into to trouble when you were younger?Question 3​Joshua plumped for the 'mushrooms'Which songs evoke​ the best memories?​Lora ​liked the look of the 'Parrot'What have you managed or tried to rescue?​​Question 4​​Joshua went for the 'Hipsters meeting'​​​What would be your last meal if you were on Death Row?​Lora claimed hands down on the 'Luxury swimming pool'When did you last start a new hobby?​​Question 5​Joshua chose the 'Traditional Band'Where is the most peaceful place you have been to?​Lora picked the ​'Carousel'What was the last thing you've won?​​​​​

Cathy is an experienced Funkster and Robb a brand new visitor to the FunkQuest competition. Whose clever idea was that to put the old against the new?Question 1Cathy chose the 'Pencils'What film quotes do you use on a regular basis?Robb chose the 'Chess set'How many times a year do you have a holiday/vacation?Question 2The waterdrop was chosen by CathyWhen you were younger what freaked you out?Robb​​​ decided on the wallpaper pictureWho said something that you will always remember?​Question 3The 'Strawberry buns' were too​ enticing for Cathy not to chooseWhich is your favourite piece of Jewellery?​Robb definitely liked the look of the 'Pirate'When did you last trust your instincts?​Question 4Cathy picked the 'Swimmers'When did you last need a Physio?​Robb chose the 'Rubbish pile'When did you last do a slam dunk?​Question 5 Cathy chose the ​'Towels'When did you last see a black and white TV?​Robb chose the 'Lightbulb​'Which board game did you play most when you were younger?

FunkQuest - Christmas special 2021 - Barb Braendlein v Katie BjargvideTwo funksters from the current series return for a Christmas themed edition.Covering all things from sugared up cousins, taking presents to the charity shop and wishing someone Happy Christmas - In Swedish.

In this episode, Daley Thompson ON A COMPUTER GAME and should pizza have nuts?Question 1Ben chose the 'Apples'What can of worms have you opened recently?Steve picked the 'Paddle Boarder'Which sports person did you idolise when you were young?Question 2Ben plumped for the 'Pencil Crayons'When was the last time you got conned of scammed?Steve decided on the 'Chess Board'Who would you like to interview you?Question 3Ben chose the 'Parrot'When was the last time you got a bargain?Steve decided to go with the 'Pool Balls'What have you done recently that would make a 10 year old you proud?Question 4Ben picked the 'Horses'When are you at your most content?Steve chose the 'Boots'What is your dream job?Question 5The healthy choice for Ben was the 'Carrots'What is the worst movie you ever saw?Steve went for the 'Rose'What do you do on the beach?

Where was the worst place you got lost, what would you be doing if you weren't here right now... plus an old favourite...Question 1Vicki chose the 'Amphitheatre'Where was your first romantic kiss?​​Lois chose the 'Kite'What would you be doing if you weren't here right now?Question 2The 'Apples' were Vicki's next choiceWhat three items would you take if stranded on a desert island?Lois liked the 'Horse' pictureWhat would you show to Extra Terrestrials as an accurate picture of the world? Question 3 ​Vicki took picked the 'Crayons' Where was the worst place you got lost?Lois chose the 'Book Reader'Where would you or do you have a tattoo?​Question 4Vicki had wanted the 'Lion Fish' since the game began. What is weird about you?Lois picked the 'Cable Car'Where is the strangest place you have slept?Question 5Vicki chose the 'Yoga Ladies'Which car would be your dream car?​For her last question Lois was manouvered into picking the 'Umbrellas'How many countries in Africa can you name?​​

Do you have a "ghost" who eats you pizza and drink your beer? And do you sing your kids to sleep?Question 1Katie chose the 'Sewing Machine'What film should everyone have watched?Damon chose the 'Child Hiding'Which ghost story can you tell?Question 2The Fire was picked by KatieWhere would you hide a USB stick from the police,in your own home?Damon revealed he came from a long line of 'Carnies' and chose the 'Fairground Ferris Wheel'Which foreign currencies do you have in your house?Question 3Katie chose the 'Owl'What cool fact do you know by heart?Damon picked the 'Pirate Ship'What do you talk about the Past, Present or Future?Question 4A bag fan of food - Katie plumped for the 'Savoury Swirls' How often do you read or have read a bedtime story?Damon decided on the 'Teapot'What would you do if you were the only Human on earth?Question 5Living on an island full of sheep Katie picked the 'Sheep'What would your 'Spice Girl' name be?The word 'putter' with the 'T'sound inspired Damons' choice for the 'Golf Putter'What is something you believed as a child?

In this episode of FunkQuest, fairy tales, not having a TV and Avon cosmetics (remember them?)Question 1 Rustie decided on the 'Punk Rocker' Where is the best waterpark you went to? Living in Florida Rustie is able to access quite a few Disney attractions and 'Paradise Island' is probably the best Waterpark. She doesn't go on the waterslides as she is a bit chicken, but is happy to observe others. Karina chose to go with the same QuestionWhere is the best waterpark you went to In Corfu, Karina goes to 'Aqualand' - it has a 'Lazy River' inflatable rings ride which flows through the Park as well as a 'Wave' pool. In England when she was younger she was hurt in on a waterslide ride and doesn't go on them any more.Question 2Karina picked the 'Tuxedo' Where do you visit on the internet at the start of each day? At 10am every morning Karina is on the internet for work purposes checking messages and notifications. For leisure she joins 'wotpad/com' where you can type up, write and read stories.Rustie chose the 'Camel' Which of the major theme parks would you most like to go to? The theme park Rustie would like to go to would be 'Bush Gardens' but Thailand would be her 'go to' destination for its stunning scenery, colour and food.Question 3Karina decided on the 'Cartoon planet' What brand are you most loyal to? There is a large British community in Corfu so Karina finds it quite easy to access the'AVON' brand of cosmetics. She especially likes the perfume 'Rare Gold' and is known by its scent. She has no clothes fashion brands and wears what is comfortable for her.Rustie chose the 'football'What old person things do you do? Rustie likes an early night and doesn't' stay up past 9pm. She doesn't like driving at busy times and she generally reduces her speed. She pretends to meditate after being out and coined the phrase 'Old person Hypocrisy' a duality of personality when you feel you have no more effort to give but you try to be loving.Question 4Karina picked the 'Random colours'Who is your favourite artist? Choosing artists from different genres, Karinas' favourites are; The Author S.E.Hinton (The outsiders) Any Rock Band of the 1980's Leonardo DaVinciRustie picked the small boatWho takes charge of the TV remote? Rustie has not had a television for 16 years and only rarely goes on YouTube. She feels that the TV is like a drug, in that it makes people forget communication and responsibility, it is addictive and is the reason why society is so angry, it also promotes fear and anxiety and could be the downfall of humanity Instead of love and community it stirs up all that we are afraid of.Question 5Karina chose the 'Wedding'How many lullabies do you know? A minute of singing later and Karina had come up with 6 Rustie added another 1. A short discussion followed about the Brothers Grimm and their collection of folklore and fairy tales, which, along with lullabies, are in truth, really quite scary. Rustie decided on the 'Table football'When did you just have to keep your mouth shut? Rustie mimed keeping her mouth shut. She says her 'filter' left about 10 years ago and if she doesn't bite her tongue she can be very scathing.

In this episode of FunkQuest, flirting, kickboxing and signs of the zodiacQuestion 1Jean chose the BicycleWhat difference do Zodiac Signs make to you?She felt that they made no difference to what she does in her life, occasionally looks at them on the internet. When younger she read them in womens magazines.Her birthday is coming up and she knows she is a Scorpio -overall great peopleRandi picked the Street CircusWhere do you get pampered?The Gym seems a funny place to get pampered but as a Kick Boxer Randi enjoys being there. With helmets and nose guards to keep safe the exercise is just a lot of fun.Question 2Jean settled on the childs feetWhat about the opposite sex confuses you the most?Communicating with each other seems to be the hardest thing. Deciding where to go for dinner is still difficult after 20 years of marriage. Where do you want to go? - I don't know where do you want to go?.Randi chose the Pool TableWhen was the last time you said never?Randi says she doesn't like to talk in absolutes 'Never' and 'Always' are words she avoids as there is always a chance that something will happen.Question 3Jean decided on the peaceful SunsetWhere do you keep all your tools?Having recently moved from an old 6 bedroomed house to a low mainteneace 2 bedroom apartment jean had got rid of all her tools except for a few screwdrivers which she keeps in her linen cupboard.Randi Picked the Lime drinkHow would you define yourself?Used to being on podcasts and talkshows Randi has answered this question quite often. She is; an author,a speaker and mental health advocate, but more than that a very crazy creative person.Question 4Randi - in fairness - got to choose first - the Pencil CrayonsWhat do you think the New York Times Headline will say on this day in ten years?'Remember the beginning of the Pandemic' was her final answer, although what 'wave' we might still be living with it in, would be questionable.Jean chose the Mountain SceneWhich is the best Rollercoaster ride?In the city of Charlotte in North carolina "Carrow Winds" holds a very scary rollercoaster. Jean however would not be riding it at all as it makes her stomach churn just looking at it. Going Up might be ok but the Down bit no thankyou.Question 5Randi chose the DancerWhere do you go to meet new people?Randi goes on different podcasts to meet people or invites them onto her own podcast the 'Write or Die Show'. In January at her Kick Boxing Gym there is an influx of new people to meet as they arrive to fulfil their New Years resolutions.Jean picked the Car WheelHow do you flirt?Fluttering her eyelashes, Jean explained that she flirts with her husband occasionally and sometimes her Southern friendliness can be mistaken for flirting when she smiles or winks at people.

Season 4 of FunkQuest opened with 3 time semi-finalist, two time finalist but never actual winner, number 1 Barbara Braendlein.Funking up was newcomer and number 16 JR Reed.We still do ladies first on FunkQuest, and in any event, it was good to show the new guy the ropes.Question 1Barb chose the row of bikes.Where do you keep your trophys/medals/certificates?Barb confessed that she was the kind of person that never won any medals trophies or certificates as a child (or adult).But that if she ever won FunkQuest, the trophy (or lack of) would have pride of place in her house.JR chose that most American of things. The big red car.Who would you want with you in the nuclear bunker?We agreed that this would be for a couple of hundred years at least so the correct choice is required.JR picked the rapper Snoop Dog and a porn star. (Probably a bad combination...)Question 2Barb picked the Daffodils.Who would you want to be the narrator of your life story?Barb picked her partner on the FunkQuest tag team challenge, Liverpool's finest Phil Pelucha.JR picked the pen and paper.How many capital cities have you been to?There was a good initial confirmation from JR - did we mean state capitals or national capitals?He recounted Monaco, Tel Aviv (right before the 1979 The Egypt–Israel treaty signed by Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin.Question 3Barb picked the plastic yoghurt potsWhen did someone apologise to you?After going to a family event the day before, Barb said her children were the last people to apologise (for being tired...)Great kids...JR picked the cake.Which job won't exist in a years time?JR has a Samsung dishwasher which has malfunctioned and the customer service support is via text.So, after a short discussion, any kind of customer service or interaction with the public.Question 4Barb picked the football (after a discussion, of course with North Americans about what they actually called this).How many takes aways did you have last month?Barb said one. Pizza. They were trying out the Uber Eats app.JR picked the haunted house.How many times a week do you hoover up?JR said it depended on the weather. He lives in a log cabin in Missouri. Question 5.Barb picked the bevy of swans.Where is the comfiest place you have ever been?Barb recounted a hotel in Salt Lake City with a bed and bedroom over looking the mountains.JR picked the UmbrellasWhere do you prefer to watch something? Live or on TV?Being autistic, JR said he needed to watch for noise, bright lights and too many sensory stimulations.​What is FunkQuest ?Funkquest is a fun interactive online conversation game that features five rounds.Funksters (players) view a board containing 20 individual icons (pictures) Funksters select an icon from the board which most tweaks their interest. Each Funky icon, when chosen reveals a Funky question, which may or may not be related to the icon.Potential Funksters, have to think on their feet, answering the question within the strict time limit of one minute. We are looking for answers which might include; insights, useful and amusing snippets, and things we just didn't know. We call this FUNK.The winner - based on audience votes - goes through to the next round of the Funkquest series.What's so good about FUNKQUEST ​?The strict time limit does not allow funksters to give; multi-headed, long, complicated and self indulgent stories - just short punchy bite-sized truly Funky ideas, as we GET THE FUNK OUT!You get to hear new ideas and speakers from outside your usual network, which truly qualifies as FUNKY.​Funky Thinkers know that IDEAS only come from free-flowing CONVERSATION.To make sure you never miss a FunkQuest episode - click https://funkythinkers.com/youtubeWhat did you think ? Leave a comment

Is the light in Chicago different than the light in New York?  Can “street photography” set the subjects and control the scene?  And just how long should you follow people carrying balloons in order to get a photograph?  These are some of the questions we answer in this week's episode of the B&H Photography Podcast. We welcome to the program photographers Nina Welch Kling and Clarissa Bonet. Kling lives in New York and Bonet in Chicago, although both are from other places entirely. We talk a bit about the differences in each city's visual make-up and what defines street photography, but we quickly turn toward the styles and workflow of our two guests. With Bonet we discuss how she constructs scenes using the language of street photography to tell internal stories. Her work is large scale, exacting, and utilizes the strong light, deep shadows, and geometries of the urban environment, but as we find out, she produces and casts her medium format photographs to get the exact image she wants, free of the disruption of the hustling crowd and uncooperative elements. We also ask about her incredible nightscape compositions called “Stray Light” and how they evolved to become large, collaged prints. After a break, we focus on the work of Nina Welch Kling and learn how she's grown to understand the movement of light through the streets of New York. Kling also discusses positioning herself (“corralling”) and holding her camera to get the angles she needs, as well as to communicate her intention to potential subjects. We also mention Fujifilm cameras and the wide-angle lenses she prefers. We ask about her series “Duologue”, which pairs two photos together, and how that pairing can add or change meaning. We also dig into the classic themes of anonymity, isolation, and wonder in street photography and how quarantine redirected her practice a bit. Join us for this insightful and easygoing conversation. Guests: Clarissa Bonet and Nina Welch Kling Photograph © Clarissa Bonet

Enhanced live electronics, sounds created in Pure Data. More on this 490th weekly Disquiet Junto project – In Conversation (The Assignment: Compose a piece of music structured like dialog) – at: https://disquiet.com/0490/ More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto/ Subscribe to project announcements here: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/ Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0490-in-conversation/. There's also a Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion. The image associated with this project is by Suzie Blackman, and used thanks to Flickr and a Creative Commons license allowing editing (cropped with text added) for non-commercial purposes: https://flic.kr/p/7Uv7uq https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Доброго утра!!!! Прекрасного дня и отличных выходных, которые начнутся с сегодняшнего вечера!!! Мира и добра!!! ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ 001 Tom Flynn feat. Amp Fiddler - The Future 002 Tosca - Swimswimswim (Mato Version) MBP 003 Gres A - Fly Off 004 Crooked Colours - I C Light (HOSH Remix) 005 Sébastien Léger - Kanga (Original Mix) 006 Maya Jane Coles, Claudia Kane - Run to You (Original Mix) MBP 007 Startrax - Motion (Original Mix) MBP 008 Boris Brejcha - Butterflies 009 Edu Imbernon, Duologue, Edu Imbernon & Duologue - Underworld (Tuff City Kids Remix) MBP 010 Mele & Shovell - Pasilda (Radio Record) 011 BLR - Night & Day (Extended Mix) 012 HOKI - Some Kind of Beautiful (Original Mix) 013 Blood Groove & Kikis - Close To You (Valiant 'Pierside' Remix) [Silk Music] 014 Remundo - Survive (Original Mix) 015 Dominik Eulberg, Gabriel Ananda - The Space Between Us (Original Mix) MBP 016 Rrotik & Smalltown DJs - Do You Want Me (Extended Mix)