Main Entry: sot·to vo·ce

Pronunciation: "sä-tO-'vO-chE
Function: adverb or adjective
Etymology: Italian sottovoce, literally, under the voice
1 : under the breath : in an undertone; also : in a private manner
2 : very softly -- used as a direction in music

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

summer, 2005 ~ june greeting


Welcome to Sotto Voce;



"matin" by alain daussin



Why this image? We change this Splash page weekly to keep articles, new poetry and other news updated, and at that time, we sometimes change the image here as well. We have reached the long, hot, sultry days of Summer and the Eastern seaboard feels as though it had been coated with a heavy wet wool blanket. It is humid, languid, and in another context, perhaps it could even be considered sublime. But as we rush about going to and fro interviews, meeting business friends and others, and of course, just getting out to see the world and lately, visit the old haunts to be sure that neither they nor we have forgotten our roots, the weather leaves us ragged, hot, wrinkled, slumped. Still, I always feel a great sense of hope this time of year. It is the time of year when women are, i believe, at our most beautiful. We emerge in our summer dresses, our long legs slightly burnished (but not too much), our impossible but lovely strappy shoes on, our newly bobbed hair that looks as if it didnt' care, a pink glow and a flush to our cheek and the promise of hope. Yes, it can be hard to slog through such weather, but we do it and we do with a grace and an ease that were we to see ourselves, we would be, i think, most pleasantly surprised. I post a Daussin picture here, though it could easily be one of myself ~ the same pose, same aspect, same mood and tone. Perhaps next week, i'll use myself as the model. For now, enjoy the moment and know for as heavy as it may feel, there is always lightness just around the corner. Summer brings hope ~ I am a firm believer. Life is, if nothing, fleeing, and to always anticipate the next wrong thing is a mistake; it will come all by itself and your worrying or not worrying about it will not change a thing. All you can do is feel the joy in this moment.


Most exciting this month: video poetry with sound and vision so check it out. Instructions for download are there, though technically you should just be able to click and it will download on its own. I hope you enjoy this; i'm slowly adding more as i go along, and yes, i know i look doofy, but hey...


There is so much here that rather than try again to give you some introduction, it's better you explore. Whatever you are looking for, i do hope that you find it here at Tant Mieux or one of our sister sites which you can easily get to from our Links sections. More, you can Google my name and find various and sundry pieces either by me or about me. There are duplicates of course, but my goal is to provide top-level content in every area for which i write. To that end, Welcome again and enjoy browsing our sections - Poetry, Images, Articles, Book and Literary Criticism, Film Comment and Critique, Cultural Comment, Generational Articles and GenX Work, Prose and Original Fiction, Creative NonFiction, Geek Work and Audio Blogging.


New this week - a big focus on Bob Dylan with, for now, two articles to check out - Don't Look Back (footage of the '65 tour)and, how could we not do that without also doing Eat the Document (the '66 tour) as well as our article about the film, Masked & Anonymous starring Bob Dylan, as Jack Fate, all available at www.tantmieux.squarespace.com/


We're happy to report that all pieces have already been picked up by the best Dylan sites out there and if you would like to link, please do - just drop us a line and let us know. Dylan remains one of the most influential musicians/poets of our time, so if you are asking me Why now, my answer is Why not now?


Summer is here full on, with lazy days and the sultry humid Eastern seaboard where the air is still as a wet blanket and our shirt backs wetten with the heat and yet, the future looks bright to me. Summer brings a renewed sense of hope. The feeling that anything is possible, and though perhaps this is illustory, a feeling that we are in control of our own destiny. I pray this much is true.


Be sure to join us later this year for reportage from Paris. If you're looking for work from Paris now, visit either France Poems and Chants here or Tant Mieux Paris. New poems that we particularly like in this moment are The Beginning and another about Pressigny and love and all of the great human emotions: Three O Clock in the Afternoon Pressigny, www.tantmieux.squarespace.com in our France Poems & Chants section or at www.tantmieuxparis.blogspot.com/

Thanks again to all of you for making us a success- and welcome again to the Tant Mieux Project.


Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti, June 2005


June, 2005

Monday, June 06, 2005

Bob's Fate | Bob Dylan & Masked & Anonymous

Masked & Anonymous

Starring Bob Dylan as “Jack Fate” and a whole host of other characters with so many cameos that I eventually lost count, though to note a few: Bruce Dern, Giovanni Ribisi, Luke Wilson, Val Kilmer (as an animal rights activist and farmer), Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, John Goodman, Christian Slater, Mickey Rourke, Penelope Cruz, and on and on…

Here is the set-up: Jack Fate, played by Bob Dylan, is in jail, though why exactly is unclear. Let’s just say it has something to do with the corrupt sort of guerilla government in the country in which the film takes place, supposedly America. But no ordinary America, this is America at some point in the future, and boy, it is a mess. It is run by corrupt officials, rebels, a sort of Sandinista government and to really top it off, the leader the entire mess, as we will find out in due course, is Jack Fate’s own less than beloved father, El Presidente, and though we never meet him directly, we see his image carried throughout the film, either directly in front of us as a frame or hovering in the background as a framed poster on the wall. He is a lurking presence and a not-so-gentle reminder of Big Brother who sees all and could give a shit. (select link for more)


http://www.tantmieux.squarespace.com/sadi-ranson-polizzotti-article/2005/6/6/bobs-fate-bob-dylan-masked-anonymous-review-by-sadi-ranson-polizzotti.html

Friday, June 03, 2005

the devil in the front row | Oppenheimer's biography of Vogue editor, Anna Wintour

Front Row
Anna Wintour: The Cool Life & Hot Times of Vogue’s Editor in Chief
by Jerry Oppenheimer


One cannot say with any real authority or certainty whether or not the road to success has been particularly easy or particularly difficult for Anna Wintour, now Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue, a position much coveted by Wintour for, it would seem, her entire career, if not her life from when she was as young as fifteen. Wintour had set herself from the very beginning on the trajectory that would take her to where she wanted to be, carefully planning each job, rarely moving laterally, always moving up, and often moving up with the help of the current lover or boyfriend of the moment. To say this is not to say that Wintour did not or does not earn or merit her current (or really any) of the various and impressive positions she has held; she has proven her talent again and again. It is simply to state the fact, that like anyone, Wintour knew enough to use not only her stunning and coquettish good looks (which, even as a young girl, the young Anna quickly learned to manipulate), to her excellent connections in publishing already established by her father, Charles Wintour ... (link for more)
http://www.tantmieux.squarespace.com/sadi-ranson-polizzotti-article/2005/6/3/the-devil-in-the-front-row-a-review-of-jerry-oppenheimers-biography-of-anna-wintour-and-the-devil-wears-prada.html