This gallery contains 7 photos.
At the edge of Harlem lies a peaceful little park where one goes to contemplate New Jersey and the Hudson River. Except no one really goes there, unless one is homeless, in which case one goes to find a bench … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
“[t]he City… a universe of rented spaces haunted by a nowhere or by dreamed-of places.” – Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life “It’s such a / Bore / Being always / Poor.” – Langston Hughes, Ennui Harlem. The … Continue reading
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It’s been a whole year since I sat in New York, imagining myself in Singapore dreaming of New York. I can’t believe how quickly a year has passed. And I have to ask myself, one year hence, if the quality … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Chrismas time is here… And here I am in Ipoh, Malaysia, at an amazing spa retreat – The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat – cradled in the middle of three towering limestone cliff. I’m watching mist gather over the geothermal lake that … Continue reading
This gallery contains 8 photos.
The song nears its end. We hear the same theme we heard during the introduction, except this time, it is in a hopeful D Major. It suggests that Death has won over the Maiden. We can almost imagine her, sleeping … Continue reading
This gallery contains 10 photos.
Death sounds his reply in ominous though seductive undertones. So says he: “Give me your hand, you lovely and tender form / I am a friend, and come not to punish / Be of good cheer! I am not savage, … Continue reading
This gallery contains 7 photos.
The maiden, enters and commences her desperate refrain in a contralto voice: “Pass over me! / Pass over me! / Go, you wild man-of-bones! / I am still young. / Go, rather, / And don’t touch me / And don’t … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
The song begins in D minor. The mood is portentous. Eight bars of soft, but sinister chords on the piano echo Death himself, emerging from the water and creeping softly up to the unsuspecting maiden. The landscape here is a … Continue reading
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Liberty Street is a short street. It is quite possibly the shortest little slip of a street on this Grand Tour of Manhattan. In fact, it doesn’t even go the whole way across the small island, but morphs into Maiden … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Today I got to thinking about how music, place and memory are so closely intertwined, and how our memories of places are often triggered by a song that we happened to be listening to at the time. Throughout my two-ish … Continue reading
Dream Of A City 