Better Than Friday - 20 (Patreon)

1 Hermann Nitsch  

Hermann Nitsch is a performance artist from Vienna, associated with 'Viennese Actionism'.  

He's famous for enormous demonstrations resembling religious/Dionysian sacrifices.  

Graphic, disturbing, certainly not for everyone, but astounding, and his philosophical writing in this book is something to behold. 

"THE FAILURE OF SATISFACTION IST THE GREAT STIMULANCE OF LIFE"

2 Spanish Guitarist I'm Enjoying Alberto Gimenez 

I just discovered this off someone's instagram account yesterday. Beautiful. 

3 The Last Great Film I Saw In Theaters 

I love Pedro Almodovar, and after growing up seeing Antonio Banderas in films, this was a heavy experience. 

Banderas plays an aging filmmaker based off of Almodovar himself.

In the scene with the Chavela Vargas clip I was dying, biting my face off to keep from sobbing. 

It absolutely destroyed me. Gorgeous. 

4 A Christmas Gift From My Mom  

She's a big Hemingway fan. I grew up in a household with a leather-bound collection of his work. That and Hunter S. Thompson. 

I barely remember anything about 'Islands in the Stream', except that it captured a particularly tragic moment in a man's life in a manner that felt unsettlingly real.

5 An Old Favorite For the HolidaysI love Nat King Cole. 

His over enunciated Americano-Spanish is somehow charming and iconic.Nat King Cole is frequently played in the terrific film 'In The Mood For Love' by Wong Kar Wai, if you haven't had the pleasure.

Feliz Año Nuevo!

Photo by @lynn_sargent