alisonboston.com

I am rapping on Anima Sound System’s soon-to-be-released new CD and I need a more visually exciting website.

When I first installed Word Press at the beginning of September, I chose Carol’s Retrospotive as my preferred template, then couldn’t figure out how to install it.
Well, almost two months, and two festivals later - I took the time to read the CPanel manual and work that out and got it installed. Now […]

I’ve just finished a two and a half day theater therapy workshop. I met a lot of beautiful people and shared some intense moments and did not come away unchanged.
The workshop was organised by the European Treatment Centers for Drug Addiction as part of the International Conference on Alcoholism and Addictions. […]

By Sunday evening, I was completely drained by the BOF festival (9 days of concerts culminating with Courtney Pine) and opted for a fluffy fashion show, but got sidetracked by an unexpected performance from Kiss Erzsi…

The big surprise of this evening’s BOF concert on the a38 boat was bass player, Darren Taylor. Not an easy task to stand out in a talent-packed, star-studded band, backing up none other than Britain’s energetic saxophone sensation Courtney Pine, but Darren caught my ears with a steady rhythm that thrummed along keeping pace […]

I’m taking a course right now that stresses the importance of following instructions.
Anytime we buy a new gadget, it comes with a set of instructions. Software also comes with instructions. I used to read instructions, then I got so I just wanted to get started…and stopped bothering with instructions. Especially […]

Zoltan Lantos’s Mirrorworld played last night on the Columbus Jazz Boat as part of BOF.
I wrote pages and pages (12 and half) in my note book (19.5X14cm). It really needs editing, but here are my first few words, written during the first few minutes of the concert:
“…it’s a stream of notes
swinging from trees
jumping […]

People are always asking me why I chose Hungary.
Today, as I was searching my files for the poems I’ve written since I came here, I stumbled on one titled Canadiana. It was hidden in a folder called poems that need work. I opened the file and […]

I talked with guitarist-composer Gábor Brezovcsik and drummer András Mohay after Plastic Septet’s concert at Millenaris tonight and I basically said everything to them…
It goes like this:
I wrote two short narratives listening to Plastic Septet tonight. One is a crime story, the other is about a lonely motel. I’ve never […]

…Inspired by the playing of:
Pandit Rajeev Janardan - sitar
Dr. Kamala Shankar - shankar-guitar
Pundlik Krishan Bhagwat - tabla
at Trafo Arts Center, Budapest, Hungary on October 17, 2005-10-17
Part of the Budapest Autumn Festival
now available for reading in PDF format via the Poems page.

An exhibtion of Istvan Banyai’swork and the presence of the man himself, brought droves of people out this afternoon to the Godor Klub. Part of the Design Week events, which are part of BOF…
The paparazzi were all there.
But the funny thing was when I encountered Istvan backstage: the speeches had begun […]

What a great publicity stunt! Put a classical music quartet in a subway station. And it worked - both in terms of getting a sold out, standing-room only audience and also in content.
The Accord Quartet delivered a great, relaxing, yet thought-provoking late night concert on the platform of the spotlessly scrubbed […]

People ask why I call it a slog rather than a blog.
Here’s why:
slog (slŏg)
v., slogged, slog·ging, slogs.
v.intr.
1) To walk or progress with a slow heavy pace; plod: slog across the swamp; slogged through both volumes.
2) To work diligently for long hours: slogged away at Latin.
I go with the latter, although the first also applies during […]

Finland’s Kimmo Pohjonen delivered an hour plus long performance this evening on the a38 concert boat as part of Budapest’s Autumn Festival. The program notes said to expect something special, and I was spellbound from start to finish. I usually sit and tap a finger or bob my head in time to […]

The first time I lived in Montreal (in 1989) I was invited by the Hamilton Artist’s Center to present my one-woman performance piece Belladonna’s Adventures in Nah Nah Land. Hungarian-Canadian artist Mary Ebos was curator and also hosted me in her home - where I experienced my first taste of Hungarian Szalona, sauna Hungarian […]

Last night’s Index of Metals was held at MaFilm on Rona ut in the XIVth district. That’s one thing about the autumn festival I appreciate: they look for unusual venues for their events, so not only do we experience the avante garde, we also get to experience and explore parts of Budapest that some […]

Once I got to the off-festival after-party venue on Kazinsky Ut, I discovered that not only was the festival showing films and putting on free concerts, but there was also a multi-media, and sound workshop taking place in the same building - along with a performance from Welsh poet Peter Finch who was last […]

Very masculine, mostly cerebral, yet at times intensely visceral (thanks to the guitar, but also occassionally the voice) and sometimes downright boring, especially in the beginning.
That’s An Index of Metals in a nutshell. Composed by the late Fausto Romitelli, performed by Flemmish Ensemble Ictus, with Georges-Elie Octors […]

Another techno leap accomplished - I think I will go in for the Techno Steeplechase
I managed to get one poem converted to PDF before the thing refused to convert anymore telling me to check my printer or reinstall printer driver. Will probably have to do the latter. I tried closing everything down and […]

…this exhibition opens today at 5:00 pm at the Ethnographic Museum. Sponsored by Swiss Credit, this is always a very well attended event. I also wrote about this for Diplomacy and Trade.

His guitar has inspired some of the most beautiful poetry I’ve written here in Hungary. Private Little Gold Mine is one poem from that collection.

I’ve also written about Zoltan Lantos here (do a search) and a link to an article I wrote about him is on my non-fiction links page. (01 November, 2004, 21 String Violin Opens …) Zoltan’s violin has inspired me to write some very unusual nature poetry.

I’ve added some details to the visual art page: a partial list of works, with a few links to images.
It was another technical adventure, not the least of which was spending an hour looking for the CD rom with the images on it. I searched in my photo drawer, 3 times, taking […]

Here’s a few lines from The Perfect Place written by Ann, sung to the music of Baron’s Sunshower:

“…once he said
‘trust me,
see the perfect place for butterflies’,
and in his arms I travelled far,
the heat was real and wonderful.”

…regardless of age and circumstances.
I opened a new category today, and simply called it Being.
I pondered what to call this category, inspired by 101 year old artist Tamás Lossonczy.
After I wrote about him, I thought about my Mother, another amazing artist - who in her forties joined an […]

I just read the post I wrote about Tamás Lossonczy and I have to say, his exhibition makes me feel wonderful. Life is indeed wonderful when a 101 year old artist can sit at an exhibition that spans 70 years of his work and be able to converse and sign autographs. […]

I can compare his style to Jackson Pollack, or Jean Paul Riopelle and there are paintings in the exhibition that look like conversations with Dali.

So, in true anarchistic style, they had a party and invited everybody to come down to the Gödör Klub - which has its own political cross to bear- and find out what they are all about.