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MixedMedia BOOKS, MUSIC
FILM
The Mo(µ)rning EPs BY BRODY BOND (’04)
Independent release; https://tinyurl.com/yc83fsp3 There is an ancient Japanese art called “Kintsugi,” where broken teaware is mended by applying lacquer mixed with gold. The newly re-bonded fragments embody the idea of “beauty through broken ness.” The cracks are highlighted, not hidden, and the newly restored piece is considered even more beautiful and valuable than the original teaware. The art, the mending and the healing represent rebirth. Baltimore, Maryland-based singer-songwriter Brody Bond’s The Mo(µ)rning EPs tell this type of rebirth story. The resulting concept album, comprised of two conjoined EPs — the darkerthemed Mourning and the uplifting Morning — are about encountering the disordering and reordering of our lives. Joy comes in the morning, as the saying goes, but the discovery of this project is that joy also comes in the mourning. At JMU, Bond was a Communication Studies major and a Music minor, and a member of The Madison Project a capella group.
The Week on Earth BY CHRIS (’05) AND DONNIE STEMP https://weekonearth.com The Week on Earth is a weekly podcast on climate change and the state of the planet. Irreverent, informative and witty, it probes the human-centered elements of climate change: our inaction, skepticism and fear, and our brazen and determined efforts to fix the things we break. Each episode features interviews and dives into deep questions — Why are we wiping our butts with old-growth forests? Why is nobody talking about climate change? Is recycling broken? — as well as up-to-the-minute environmental news from around the globe. But this is not NPR. This is two brothers asking questions — sometimes fighting, sometimes laughing — but always trying to save the planet. Co-host Chris Stemp, a Finance major, raises bees and chickens on a farm outside Leesburg, Virginia, while working in corporate leadership development. The Week on Earth posts new shows every Monday across all podcast platforms. 52
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Oleander City BY MATT BONDURANT (’93, ’98M) Blackstone Publishing ISBN-13: 979-8200831166 The hurricane of 1900, the United States’ worst natural disaster, left the island city of Galveston, Texas, in ruins. Thousands perished, including all 93 children at the Sisters of the Incarnate Word orphanage — except 6-year-old Hester, who miraculously survived. Oleander City is the tale of this little girl and the volatile collision between the American Red Cross, the Ku Klux Klan and one of the most famous boxing matches in American history. The bout, organized to raise money for the recovery effort, featured the enigmatic veteran “Chrysanthemum Joe” Choynski, the most successful Jewish boxer in America, and Jack Johnson, a young hometown hero known as “the Galveston Giant.” The storied battle forged a bond between the two fighters and put Johnson on the path to becoming one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Meanwhile, Clara Barton and the Red Cross minister to the sick and hungry as mounted vigilantes use the chaotic situation to settle old scores. After witnessing a terrible crime, Hester finds sanctuary with the ladies of the Red Cross in a heart-rending convergence of these historic figures. Based on a true story, Oleander City is Bondurant’s fourth novel. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, where he is the director of the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Mississippi.
Healing Your Depression: A Catholic Perspective BY THOMAS SYRE SR. Independently published ISBN-13: 979-8361877911 Let’s make clinical depression a burden of your past. This book combines Catholic faith practices with personal actions for healing. It is a timely, post-pandemic, educational and easy-to-read book for those suffering from depression, written by a Catholic health science researcher with a Foreword by a Capuchin priest and friar. Topics include daily prayer; how the body, mind and spirit affect depression; research-based, suggested changes in thinking and behaviors; therapist selection and partnering; select therapeutic modalities used in counseling; psychotropic medicine; journaling activities; and quality-of-life and happiness issues. The reader learns about the most effective use of the nation’s mental health care system for recovery. Syre, a career university educator with a Master of Public Health and a doctorate in Philosophy, taught in JMU’s undergraduate Health Services Administration program from August 1992 to December 2005 and was recognized for his research and publishing as a Madison Scholar. He served on the Faculty Senate, was a Faculty First-Year Advisor, and assisted with faculty recruitment for the new Occupational Therapy and Physician’s Assistant programs.
40 West: Two Brothers on the Trip to Mark a Lifetime BY BRUCE C. BRYAN (’87) BookBaby ISBN-13: 978-1098389864 40 West is an autobiographical journey in some ways and a collection of essays about life and that journey in others. It’s two brothers making a reflective and intentional trip to honor and celebrate their late father. Along the way, we learn about them, the man they called Dad and the world around us. Tears, laughter and thought-provoking messages are peppered throughout. It’s nostalgic, forward-looking and fun — all at the same time. Bryan wrote the book during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was a Tele communication and Political Science double major.