robertogreco

feral teacher · aka rogre · writing · archive

[robertogreco]

A Mystical Ornithology (also at Emergence Magazine):

Immersed in the songs of blue jays, yellow-throated warblers, and red-shouldered hawks on his forty-six-acre farm in rural South Carolina, acclaimed poet and ornithologist J. Drew Lanham exchanges calls with the birds that stop over at his home during their seasonal migrations. For Drew, these creatures are gods, transcendent beings who summon a response of reverence. Reverberating with sound, music, light, and ethereal cinematic expression, A Mystical Ornithology weaves a kinetic texture for the senses and invites you into a poetic evocation of the paradox of love and grief within the changing nature of the seasons.

[robertogreco]

“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it.”

David W. Orr, now added to the “Who are you now?” collection

[robertogreco]

From Miles Davis to the NYC Subway: The Forgotten Jazz Legend Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Danilo Parra (2025):

Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre once shared the stage with the legendary Miles Davis, helping redefine the landscape of avant-garde jazz. Yet when I met him, he was playing in the subways of New York City, his music reverberating through the tunnels like a lost echo from jazz’s golden age. As the story unfolds, Kalaparusha pours his heart into his final album, inspired by a song dedicated to the love of his life, Antoinette.

This film captures his story, his voice, and his music—bridging past and present in a raw, intimate portrait of a true jazz innovator.

🔹 Who was Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre? A pioneering saxophonist and a key figure in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), McIntyre shaped the free jazz movement. Despite his legendary status, he spent his later years as a street musician, bringing jazz to the people in the most unexpected places.

Also on Vimeo.

[robertogreco]

Raymond Saunders:

Known for his abstract mixed-media paintings with socio-political undertones, artist Raymond Saunders guides us through the non-linear landscape of his identity, consciousness, and art-making process. In this restored archival interview from 1994, Saunders challenges you to think deeper about the artistic journey and unlearn what you think you know about beginnings and endings.

[robertogreco]

“Banner supposedly used by Taborite forces led by Bohuslav of Švamberg”

[robertogreco]

Fra Angelico, Annunciatory Angel (c. 1450 and 1455)

[robertogreco]

Sebastián, Coyote en Ayuno, 2008 [ Nezahualcóyotl ]

[robertogreco]

Hilda Palafox, Presagio, 2025

[robertogreco]

Eternity's Orphans by Charles Simic, 2008

One night you and I were walking. The moon was so bright We could see the path under the trees. Then the clouds came and hid it So we had to grope our way Till we felt the sand under our bare feet, And heard the pounding waves. Do you remember telling me, “Everything outside this moment is a lie”? We were undressing in the dark Right at the water’s edge When I slipped the watch off my wrist And without being seen or saying Anything in reply, I threw it into the sea.

(image via)

[amnhnyc]

Meow! It’s National Cat Day. Behold a black cat of a different kind: this melanistic serval (Leptailurus serval). Also known as the “giraffe cat,” servals have the longest legs in proportion to their body size of any feline. Found in parts of Africa, this predator can jump more than 9 ft (2.7 m) into the air to snatch birds in flight. Individuals like the one pictured, which are rare in the wild, are affected by a genetic mutation called melanism, which results in their dark coloring. Scientists think there are some advantages that come with having a dusky coat, including being able to more seamlessly blend in with the darkness of the night and take in heat more efficiently in the Sun.

Photo: Stan Rullman, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist 

[robertogreco]

"View of San Francisco following the 1846 American conquest of California, showing Montgomery Street as the location of the shoreline of Yerba Buena Cove. Print by Edward Bosqui Company, ca. 1884." (image from Wikipedia via the page for Montgomery Street)

[robertogreco]

San Francisco Archipelago, by Burrito Justice (2012):

With the surprising acceleration of sea level rise due to the melting of both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets over the past decade, the San Francisco canal system was officially abandoned this week. Additional ferry service has been announced between the new major islands of the San Franciscan Archipelago while the boring machines make progress under the Van Ness Passage and Richmond Pass for new transit tunnels.

[robertogreco]

San Francisco Municipal Gondola Network, by Burrito Justice

A modest proposal for a San Francisco aerial gondola system, with funiculars.

[robertogreco]

Student-Directed Learning: Inside San Francisco's Alternative High School (1971):

What happens when students take charge of their own education? This eye-opening 1970s documentary explores a student-led curriculum at San Francisco Polytechnic High School. Featuring dynamic street scenes, classroom innovation, and youth empowerment. A fascinating case study in alternative education. Thank you to archive.org and Prelinger Archives.

Also at the Internet Archive, where there is a bit more information on the film.

[robertogreco]

“When I was in high school, he said our needs mixed "like fire and oil." It was a way to understand how what was going on with us and explain to me how he viewed parenting. Parenting is like authorship. An author works with language, but language comes charged. Words have their own meaning and associations and the author has to balance shaping that language with the already-charged nature of that language. Language completely unfettered—that is, words without any order—wouldn't make any sense. As a parent, he didn't want to squash my energy but he also knew I needed some order. I think it's a universal issue in parenting: how much do you take control and how much do you let your child make their mistakes?”

Alysia Abbott on her father Steve Abbott in an interview with Hope Reese (2013)

[stml]

Ken Isaacs on parenthood, from 'Living Structures'

[robertogreco]

CHANGES/every morning for the last six hundred days or so carole & i have awakened to a new & different kind of world. we have been joined by another person, full-fledged, intelligent & active. all my life i've thought in some Calvinistic, Baptist way with a quasi-scientific twist that "yes, it is necessary to explore the possibilities of genetic combinations blah, blah, blah." supercool didn't prepare me for the wonder of the benign explosion which was the entry of joshua henry isaacs into our collective life. i tended to think of abstract reasons for rearing children making it worth the hassle. the awesome truth is that it's some experience. like having some exotic stranger come for a long visit. it's the one life experience i've found impossible to take for granted even after all this time. no ego trip like the old-fashioned world but more like watching a beautiful little peach tree grow. the only ego thing involved is watching reinterpreted echoes of your own behavior & attitudes appear in this midget like the reverb from some mighty speaker in the sky driven by the DNA spiral. sometimes this is 0K but sometimes it makes you cringe & hope for the best.

[robertogreco]

Direcciones (Navigating a City Without Street Addresses):

In Costa Rica, a centralized system for street addresses does not exist, so people use landmarks as reference points in giving out directions. A short documentary by María Luisa Santos and Carlo Nasisse attempts to figure out why.