Conscious Choice: Books

July 2006 | Art & Soul

Books

Secrets of Longevity: Hundreds of Ways
to Live to Be 100
By Dr. Maoshing Ni (Chronicle Books)

There’s something indubitably encouraging about Secrets of Longevity. The book’s cheery red cover, chunky girth and hand-sized, flip-friendly pages—each offering a quick and simple tip for building and prolonging health and happiness—make for endless contented browsing. Collected by Dr. Maoshing Ni, a Taoist longevity expert and 38th generation doctor of Chinese medicine, the book’s “secrets” are unlikely to surprise the seasoned natural health enthusiast. But in this smartly designed format, sage suggestions like eat more blueberries, tell the truth and say no to undue burdens function as welcome reminders for wellness. It’s the perfect book to gift a friend—and to keep handy wherever you find a free moment for enlightenment: on the coffee table, by the bedside or in the loo.

—Eliza Thomas

MUSIC

Moon Over the Freeway
The Ditty Bops (Warner Bros.)

It’s a rare band that can whip anti-pesticide and pro-public transportation lyrics into an irresistibly catchy melody, but LA’s The Ditty Bops somehow pull it off on their stunning sophomore effort, Moon Over the Freeway. Maybe it’s because the female folk duo (Abby DeWald on vocals and acoustic guitar, Amanda Barrett on vocals, mandolin and washboard) serenade green spaces and fresh air with the same swoony passion that most lovelorn singers reserve only for their sweethearts. (The band’s so smitten, in fact, that their current nationwide tour has DeWald and Barrett snubbing air-polluting planes and vans in favor of traveling from their home base to New York City entirely by bicycle.) Moon Over the Freeway is a world where “fat cows are grazing” on one track (the wistful, loungy “Fall Awake”), but just four songs later our honey-voiced protagonists are “sipping canned air in the shade” (on “It’s a Shame,” a lovely acoustic-guitar waltz). That dreamy juxtaposition of the green dream and the smoggy reality perfectly complements The Ditty Bops marriage of vaudeville-reminiscent ragtime and swing stylings to oh-so-modern, brightly polished production. Whether the rhythm’s swaying gently like palm trees in the haze or shuffling along faster than the Chattanooga Choo Choo, the charmingly mishmash formula endlessly flatters the already cute-as-a-button Ditty Bops and proves their pop sensibility utterly timeless.

—Elizabeth Barker

Mish Maoul
Natacha Atlas (Beggars UK-Ada)

Since her days as founder/member with Transglobal Underground, Natacha Atlas has carved an impressive solo career with a series of albums centered on her sultry Middle Eastern vocals. Her latest, Mish Maoul (“unbelievable” in Arabic) is no exception, but this time she adds a wider range of influences to the mix.

As if her British/Belgian/Moroccan/Egyptian background isn’t exotic enough, she’s included a slow burning Brazilian number to her repertoire, an effect that somehow blends perfectly with her Arabic vocals. The string arrangements are, as usual, recorded in Cairo, but in this go-round, Natacha focuses more deeply on her Moroccan family connections; there is some serious Gnawa percussion and chanting augmenting a diverse selection of material ranging from dreamy romantic ballads to up-tempo dance floor fillers. Through it all, Atlas manages to meld her traditional roots with ambient, club and dancehall beats—all without sacrificing an iota of integrity.

Natacha has won many awards, including “Best Female Singer” at the Victoire de la Musique, France’s equivalent to the Grammys. Her worldwide popularity is testament to the care and craftsmanship underlying her music. As Mish Maoul proves, few musicians can match Natacha Atlas in successfully combining tradition with the beat from the street.

—Derek Rath

DVDs

OM Yoga & Meditation Workshop
With Cyndi Lee and David Nichtern ($25; dharmamoon.com )

For budding yogis looking to get deeper into meditation, a new DVD/CD program from New York City’s OM yoga center makes for a fresh, down-to-earth primer on the often-daunting practice. In OM Yoga & Meditation Workshop, OM Buddhist studies director David Nichtern leads five quick teaching sessions that use simple, breath-based techniques to “synchronize mind and body” and offers a guided meditation on lovingkindness. But the real gem lies in Nichtern’s warm, casual, sometimes slightly rambling talks on surpassing the struggles of meditation, from dealing with an achy back to refocusing when you’re hit with a major chocolate ice cream jones. By working to redefine our expectations of the practice, Nichtern (a songwriter who performs several tracks on the accompanying spa-soundtrack-esque CD) gently empowers viewers to take on the sublime task of living more mindfully.

Peppered between each meditation session, OM founder Cyndi Lee’s yoga sequences feel less like a workshop and more like a crash course in vinyasa (or flowing) yoga. Best suited to intermediate-level yoga students, the first two workouts zip from plank pose to upward dog to downward dog at a pace that barely allows Lee to catch her breath on the speedy voice-over instruction. Lee winds down to guide students through a slower-moving series of hip- and heart-openers on the latter two workouts.

—EB

FILMS

Blood of My Brother
Directed by Andrew Berends
For release dates, visit Storytellerinc.com

Blood of My Brother gives a thorough, though sometimes confusing, portrait of the microcosm and the macrocosm of present-day Iraqi life, as seen through the eyes of a fallen martyr’s brother.

The documentary focuses on Ibrahim, whose brother Ra’ad was killed by Americans while he was guarding the local mosque. But the broader and more interesting story is of Iraq’s culture, both on its own and in light of the occupation. Berends gained remarkable access in his six months of filming, and was able to juxtapose the intimate details and the honest emotions of Ibrahim’s family with more familiar images of street marches, mass prayers and political rallies.

The almost complete lack of exposition means that it may take two viewings to really understand how all the various pieces are related, but the most important point does get across: there is such a chasm of difference between Americans and Iraqis, in manner, lifestyle, language and intention, it’s amazing the two sides manage to communicate at all.

In fact, the most telling moment comes when a woman whose house has been bombed for no reason exclaims, “I don’t know if the Americans are helping us or not!” And to its credit, the film doesn’t answer the question.

—Molly Freedenberg

Expiration Date
Directed by Rick Stevenson
Written by Rick Stevenson and Hamish Gunn
Starring Robert A. Guthrie and Sascha Knopf
For release dates, visit ExpirationDateTheMovie.com

Expiration Date is director Rick Stevenson’s playful, Wes Anderson-style spin on man’s preoccupation with his impending doom—as told through a romantic comedy fable with Native American themes. Sound difficult? It was.

“I’ll be honest… for the first five months in editing, it didn’t work at all,” said Stevenson. “Keeping it tonally consistent so it didn’t spill over and become completely ridiculous? It was hard to do.”

It’s a challenge that Stevenson mostly managed to surmount. The story—a nerdy Native American barista and a wacky blonde dancer who teach each other to live and love—is original, imaginative and uplifting, featuring appealing characters and a soundtrack that sets the perfect light-yet-melancholy tone. And the setting—Seattle—works so well, it’s almost a character in its own right.

The end result is almost flawless—but not quite. Robert Guthrie is phenomenal, but the other actors try too hard to be funny. And strange choices in lighting and editing give an overall inexpert feel. But despite the few missteps, Expiration Date is still a great film: smart, complex, sweet, absurd—and surely on its way to becoming a cult favorite.

—MF

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