Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 2, 2014

13

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

 Mountain Views News Saturday, August 2, 2014 


Jeff’s Book Picks By Jeff Brown

SEAN’S SHAMELESS 

REVIEWS: 


Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou 

 The legendary author shares the 
deepest personal story of her life: her 
relationship with her mother. For the 
first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs 
and struggles of being the daughter of 
Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit 
whose petite size belied her larger than 
life presence, a presence absent during 
much of Angelou’s early life. When her 
marriage began to crumble, Vivian 
sent 3 year old Maya and her older 
brother away from their California 
home to live with their grandmother 
in Arkansas. The subsequent feelings 
of abandonment stayed with Angelou 
for years, but their reunion, a decade 
later, began a story that has never 
before been told. Angelou dramatizes 
her years reconciling with the mother 
she preferred to simply call “Lady,” 
revealing the profound moments that 
shifted the balance of love and respect 
between them.Delving into one of 
her life’s most rich, rewarding, and 
fraught relationships, Mom & Me & 
Mom explores the healing and love that 
evolved between the two women over 
the course of their lives, the love that 
fostered Maya’s rise from immeasurable 
depths to reach impossible heights.

Liberty’s Torch: The Great Adventure 
to Build the Statue of Liberty by 
Elizabeth Mitchell 

The Statue of Liberty is one of the most 
recognizable monuments in the world, 
a powerful symbol of freedom and the 
American dream. For decades, the 
myth has persisted that the statue was 
a grand gift from France, but Mitchell 
reveals how she was in fact the pet 
project of one visionary French sculptor, 
Frédéric Bartholdi. He not only forged 
this 151-foot-tall statue in a workshop 
in Paris and transported her across the 
ocean, but battled for money to make 
her a reality. Inspired by a trip to Egypt 
where he saw the pyramids, he traveled 
to America carrying the idea of a giant 
statue of a woman. There he enlisted 
the help of notable people including 
Ulysses S. Grant, Joseph Pulitzer, Victor 
Hugo, Gustave Eiffel, and Thomas 
Edison to help his scheme. While the 
French and American governments 
dithered, Bartholdi made the statue a 
reality by his own entrepreneurship, 
vision, and determination.

American Catch: The Fight for Our 
Local Seafood by Paul Greenberg 

This award winning author uncovers 
the tragic unraveling of the nation’s 
seafood supply, why Americans have 
stopped eating from their own waters? 
In 2005, the United States imported 
five billion pounds of seafood, nearly 
double what we imported twenty 
years earlier. Bizarrely, during that 
same period, our seafood exports 
quadrupled. The book examines New 
York oysters, Gulf shrimp, and Alaskan 
salmon to reveal how it came to be that 
91 percent of the seafood Americans eat 
is foreign. In the 1920s, the average New 
Yorker ate six hundred local oysters a 
year. Today, the only edible oysters lie 
outside city limits. Following the trail of 
environmental desecration, Greenberg 
comes to view the New York City oyster 
as a reminder of what is lost when local 
waters are not valued as a food source. 
On visiting the Gulf of Mexico, he finds 
that the immediate threat to business 
comes from overseas. Asian farmed 
shrimp,cheap, abundant, have flooded 
the market. Finally, he visits Alaska, 
home to the biggest wild sockeye 
salmon run in the world. Bristol Bay 
is now at great risk: The proposed 
Pebble Mine project could undermine 
the spawning grounds that make 
this great run possible. Why is this 
precious resource not better protected? 
Greenberg encounters a shocking 
truth: the majority of Alaskan salmon 
is sent out of the country, much of it to 
Asia. Sockeye salmon is one of the most 
nutritionally dense animal proteins 
on the planet, yet we are shipping it 
abroad. Some hope abounds. In New 
York, Greenberg connects an oyster 
restoration project for how the bivalves 
might save the city from rising tides. In 
the Gulf, shrimpers band together to 
offer local catch direct to consumers. 
And in Bristol Bay, fishermen, and 
environmentalists, gather to roadblock 
Pebble Mine. Paul Greenberg proposes 
a way to break the current destructive 
patterns of consumption and return 
American catch back to American 
eaters.

By Sean Kayden

THE ROSEBUDS

North Carolina indie rock 
duo are set to release their 
sixth studio album, “Sand 
+ Silence” on August 5th.The record was produced 
by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Vernon and his Bon 
Iver bandmate Matt McCaughan are present by 
diving in on guitar, keyboards, and drums. While 
a new Bon Iver isn’t planned in the foreseeable 
future, the real question is posed; will The Rosebuds 
finally break out of indie obscurity with their latest 
endeavor? Their first single, “Blue Eyes” is a big, 
summery indie gem. It’s the epitome of an indie 
rock tune of the early 00s. In fact, the record has a 
certain charismatic approach to it. “Sand + Silence” 
boosts expert lyrics, big harmonies and beautiful 
melodies. From ballads to cheerful tunes to slick 
rock tracks, the record navigates a lot of terrain. For 
the most part, the record stands as jovial and upbeat. 
However, the lyrics run deep with an optimistic 
outlook on the uncertainties of life. 

 Kelly Crisp and Ivan Howard, the duo behind 
The Rosebuds kick off their record with “In 
My Teeth.” It’s an overly simplistic and positive 
song that is carried effortlessly with effervescent 
guitars. “Sand + Silence,” sounds like something 
between Bon Iver and Justin Vernon’s other band, 
Volcano Choir would have crafted. It’s soulful and 
hypotonic. Clearly Vernon’s hand was involved with 
this beautiful track. A “Give Me A Reason,” one 
of the ballads off the record is quite mesmerizing. 
A touching, heartfelt, sensitive experience could 
easily describe the aforementioned tune. Howard’s 
crooning vocals are warm and achingly beautiful. 
“Give Me A Reason,” describes finding a new love, 
amidst the uncertainty that is entangled with it. 
After listening to this one, you’ll know it’s one of the 
best tracks on the compilation. “Death Of An Old 
Bike” ventures into this story about making changes 
within. If you’re tired of whom you have become, 
be done with your old self and make way for a 
better tomorrow. The song deals with individual 
development. The harmonies are way too good to 
ignore. “ Death Of An Old Bike” is easily the most 
endearing song found here. Closing track, “Tiny 
Bones,” feels fitting. It’s a song that blows down 
the tempo of the album ever so softly. Howard’s 
falsetto is in play and works incredibly well with 
the layouts of drum beats and guitar riffs. The song 
finishes with the gentle sound of night rain making 
the entire album feel more than just music but an 
experience to fade off into the night with. 

 “Walking” is probably the only true filler track 
I heard here. At under two minutes and rather 
ordinary, among some truly extraordinary songs, 
the tune didn’t hit the right chords with me. The 
other ten tracks glide and touch the soul in many 
ways. Some stand out more so than others, but 
even those that don’t still find a way into your heart. 
Overall, The Rosebuds have crafted yet another 
exquisite record that will only be a shadow among 
the overproduced, redundant material found in 
popular music. If you’re seeking change in a world 
that has your down, let “Sand + Silence” point you 
in the right direction. Although, at any rate, let it be 
your listening selection as you make your way to the 
place or person you want to be. 

Grade: 8.5 out of 10

Key Tracks: “Sand + Silence,” “Give Me A Reason,” 
“Blue Eyes,” “Death Of An Old Bike”


On the Marquee: Notes from the Sierra MadrePlayhouse


“THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES,” BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND ON SEPTEMBER 7

 This nostalgic show features music, dance and comedy from the World War II era and later 
armed conflicts (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq) in a tribute to Bob Hope and the USO shows. A Theatres of 
Vision production.

 “Thanks for the Memories.” A program of music, dance and comedy. At Sierra Madre Playhouse, 
87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Ample free parking behind theatre. Sunday, 
September 7, 2014 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $30. Seniors (65+) $25. Veterans $15. Children 12 and 
under, $10. Reservations: (626) 355-4318. Online ticketing: www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

 “What a delight!”---Life in L.A.

 “Delightful….May well perform forever.”---Theatre Spoken Here

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com