I live in Florida. What a trip you take me on listening to your pieces! Our environments couldn’t be more different. Great descriptions, just the right amount of colloquial talk and scientific names.
Hi. I just listened to the pieces available of The Hustler Files. Have you continued working on this series? I would love to listen to any more you have.
In its uniqueness this piece covers a wide spectrum of subject areas: women's interests, women's occupations, mental health, physical health, recovering from (sexual) trauma, creative women, and more. Tones: Educational, in-your-face, genuine. Excellent piece.
Excellent writing, great dynamic progression. The music is always on point and colorful, adding lots of texture. Intellingent critique of stereotypes. Tremendously valuable in informing how the generalizations came about and who benefits by keeping them alive. Splendid upbeat conclusion. Encore!
...and startled with the author's ability to describe things I thought could not be communicated with words. A wordsmith with the eye of a painter, stunning.
This piece is very well done. A tension is created from the beginning with the duality of "The man who suffers and the mind who creates" (T.S. Eliot). Writer Allison Berglund Johnson is in earnest. She engages listeners with just a few words... it is her voice, real and intimate. Listeners will be quite ready to accept the invitation and visit her web site.
In this culture we see aging as something to fear as we will become ill, feeble, miserable and in perpetual pain. The elderly people who participated in this program illustrate a different picture. The piece flows with good rhythm: speech- music- speech- music...
Pertinent, very today, brief piece. It may be aired around the subjects of baby boomers, homelessness, middle age, housing, urban landscapes, women making a difference, women taking charge, people helping each other.
Comment for
"How to Save Your Life #008" (deleted)
How to distinguish between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Depression? Is a bad headache the same as migraine? Clear, informative, and dispelling myths and misunderstandings, this piece is easy to comprehend and easy to listen to.
I have worked in both jail and mental health hospital and can say that this piece is real. Ambient sounds are the proper ones and evoke images in the listener's mind. Movement is clearly percieved and the sequence is right. The narration comes full circle leaving no loose ends. An illustrative piece.
Many movies have been made about leaving behind a predictable existence and hopping trains. But this audible program, this sound compilation, is real. Real: unlike any images folks may have seen. There is wonder; there are smells and chilling cold; there is the rythm of music... or is it a train?
Comment for
"Rethinking AIDS Treatment: The Brazilian Model" (deleted)
Review of Rethinking AIDS Treatment: The Brazilian Model (deleted)
Unconventional sources are interviewed and the attention of listeners is captivated. The piece ends with an easy and constructive look at a Brazilian ghetto.
The rhythm throughout is lively. There are translations into English, but phrases spoken in Portuguese are not smothered. The ambience is genuine, and of course, there is Brazilian music.
Perhaps one needs to be conversant with The Plan in order to appreciate "Mental"?
This piece is a step back in sensitivity and awareness.
A monologue explaining the narrator's madness is sandwiched between two pieces of silly melodrama. It begins with a caricaturesque, tabloid-like collage alluding to disorganized thinking patterns . A narrative follows. Then the listener is subjected to the 1960's "They're Coming to Take Me Away".
Comments by Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Comment for "White Nosed Coati"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on January 22, 2018 at 03:56 PM | Permalink
What a trip!
I live in Florida. What a trip you take me on listening to your pieces! Our environments couldn’t be more different. Great descriptions, just the right amount of colloquial talk and scientific names.
Comment for "Knowledge is Power"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on January 21, 2018 at 07:46 PM | Permalink
Any more?
Hi. I just listened to the pieces available of The Hustler Files. Have you continued working on this series? I would love to listen to any more you have.
Comment for "To peddle pleasure"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on March 15, 2012 at 07:35 PM | Permalink
Unique
In its uniqueness this piece covers a wide spectrum of subject areas: women's interests, women's occupations, mental health, physical health, recovering from (sexual) trauma, creative women, and more. Tones: Educational, in-your-face, genuine. Excellent piece.
Comment for "Appalachia Rising"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on October 08, 2011 at 11:57 PM | Permalink
Educate us!
Excellent writing, great dynamic progression. The music is always on point and colorful, adding lots of texture. Intellingent critique of stereotypes. Tremendously valuable in informing how the generalizations came about and who benefits by keeping them alive. Splendid upbeat conclusion. Encore!
Comment for "Can Science Explain Why We Believe?"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on September 01, 2011 at 06:14 PM | Permalink
A Wide View
Religion and science, or versus science? This piece is an ample exploration that may well invite an audience to seek more. I'd enjoy an encore.
Comment for ""Note the relationship between the two seated figures in the booth.""
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 10:28 PM | Permalink
I am a painter...
...and startled with the author's ability to describe things I thought could not be communicated with words. A wordsmith with the eye of a painter, stunning.
Comment for "Allison Berglund Johnson"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on July 20, 2010 at 10:01 PM | Permalink
Enthralling and Convincing
This piece is very well done. A tension is created from the beginning with the duality of "The man who suffers and the mind who creates" (T.S. Eliot). Writer Allison Berglund Johnson is in earnest. She engages listeners with just a few words... it is her voice, real and intimate. Listeners will be quite ready to accept the invitation and visit her web site.
Comment for "Jazzing the Cool" (deleted)
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on July 09, 2010 at 09:55 PM
Intriguing, sound-rich, informational, thoughtful. (deleted)
A sensuous flow of delicious music and thoughtful narration. This excellent piece travels on a river of time.
Comment for "HV008- About Aging"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on June 30, 2010 at 06:36 PM | Permalink
Fun!
In this culture we see aging as something to fear as we will become ill, feeble, miserable and in perpetual pain. The elderly people who participated in this program illustrate a different picture. The piece flows with good rhythm: speech- music- speech- music...
Comment for "The Mayor of St. Mary's"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on February 03, 2008 at 02:28 PM | Permalink
Review of The Mayor of St. Mary's
Pertinent, very today, brief piece. It may be aired around the subjects of baby boomers, homelessness, middle age, housing, urban landscapes, women making a difference, women taking charge, people helping each other.
Comment for "How to Save Your Life #008" (deleted)
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on November 23, 2006 at 01:09 PM
Review of How to Save Your Life #008 (deleted)
How to distinguish between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Depression? Is a bad headache the same as migraine? Clear, informative, and dispelling myths and misunderstandings, this piece is easy to comprehend and easy to listen to.
Comment
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on October 28, 2006 at 05:06 PM
Review of Waiting it Out Series (deleted)
I have worked in both jail and mental health hospital and can say that this piece is real. Ambient sounds are the proper ones and evoke images in the listener's mind. Movement is clearly percieved and the sequence is right. The narration comes full circle leaving no loose ends. An illustrative piece.
Comment for "The Train Plan"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on April 02, 2006 at 06:12 PM | Permalink
Review of The Plan- Trains
Many movies have been made about leaving behind a predictable existence and hopping trains. But this audible program, this sound compilation, is real. Real: unlike any images folks may have seen. There is wonder; there are smells and chilling cold; there is the rythm of music... or is it a train?
Comment for "Rethinking AIDS Treatment: The Brazilian Model" (deleted)
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on March 14, 2006 at 03:33 PM
Review of Rethinking AIDS Treatment: The Brazilian Model (deleted)
Unconventional sources are interviewed and the attention of listeners is captivated. The piece ends with an easy and constructive look at a Brazilian ghetto.
The rhythm throughout is lively. There are translations into English, but phrases spoken in Portuguese are not smothered. The ambience is genuine, and of course, there is Brazilian music.
Comment for "The Mental Plan"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on March 12, 2006 at 07:48 PM | Permalink
Review of The Plan- Mental
Perhaps one needs to be conversant with The Plan in order to appreciate "Mental"?
This piece is a step back in sensitivity and awareness.
A monologue explaining the narrator's madness is sandwiched between two pieces of silly melodrama. It begins with a caricaturesque, tabloid-like collage alluding to disorganized thinking patterns . A narrative follows. Then the listener is subjected to the 1960's "They're Coming to Take Me Away".
Comment for "A Danger to Self and Others"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on March 12, 2006 at 06:47 PM | Permalink
Review of A Danger to Self and Others
Very good piece. Good rhythm, well written and real milieu sounds. Keeps one engaged.
Comment for "Mental Health Continuum of Care"
Sandra Smallwood-Beltran
Posted on March 12, 2006 at 05:52 PM | Permalink
Review of Mental Health Continuum of Care
The content is valuable as it fills an informational void. In rural areas especially, recovered mentally ill persons fall through the cracks.