This is a photograph of Salvador Dali & Walt Disney taken in the 1940s. I am guessing that it is in California.
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Art Game II
This is a water colour painting by my cousin, Martha Outt Harns, done in 1987. She is now 87 years old & sadly, lives in a residential facility for Alzheimer’s Disease patients. I wanted to post this as part of the Art Game series as a tribute to the body of work that she left us. This painting shows some degree of Thai dance culture, in terms of the hand & finger positions, but the costume design, as I understand it, is her interpretation or composite of similar costumes from South East Asia.
Art Game III
This is a result of my point & click camera. The Art Game series has inspired me to record the art I see around me in San Francisco on a daily basis. Not all art has to be within the walls of a museum or a palace. It can be part of your daily life, if you let it. I call this one Kitty Cat Sidewalk, not knowing who created it, nor what (if any) name was given to it. It was taken not very far from where I work.
CODA: I had a funny, sweet, naughty, smartest-cat-in-the-world. Her name was Marnie, after the Alfred Hitchcock movie. To the best of my ability to know, the only thing she ever shoplifted was my heart. She was in my life for 15 years, before she died. I miss her very much. To Marnie, my little meow-face!
Art Game IV
Atlas Stands Unnoticed Before The Holy Wisdom
I started this painting in 2007. It was rejected. I repainted it, after years of pain, in 2010, understanding it was growth which caused both the pain & the release of the cause of that pain. Now, the painting is free & in so being, it has released me from much sadness.
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Art Game V Jay Defeo/The Rose
This monumental painting by artist Jay Defeo is one of the most astonishing & spiritually moving works of art I have ever experienced in my life. I first became aware of it several years ago by taking a class called Women In Art History, City College, San Francisco. It's history of having to be removed from an apartment here in San Francisco, due to the eviction of the artist & the story of having the bay window that was it's original backdrop setting removed & a crane used to hoist it to the street-level moving van added to my intrigue of the work. I was impressed by the photographs I had seen & by what I had read about the struggles of the artist. But NOTHING, NOTHING at all could have prepared me for the emotional & spiritual experience of seeing it in real life, real time, minus the bay window that was it's original backdrop. Much has been written about this work. The only thing I can add, with a tone of urgency is: Please, take the time to see this for yourself while it is back in San Francisco, at the Museum of Modern Art. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Photography can certainly show you what it looks like, but you need to experience this in person, as an active viewer, in order to be fully overwhelmed. My paltry words do not do it justice, not at all!
Art Game VI
Art Game VI: Andy Warhol-Knockoff
This is a painting of Andy Warhol @ a cafe entrance on Divisadero Street, San Francisco. I liked the idea of it being more or less street art, not in a museum & not costing several millions of dollars. It's not signed. Post Mortem would make that a bit of a challenge, even freaky. Calling it a knockoff is a tip of the hat to Jean-Claude Van Damme & to Warhol, since they both did the same thing over & over & over. One was a genre artist, the other is an genre actor. Duplication must be in the wrist & the timing. Makes the term monetize seem rather quaint. Enjoy!
Art Game VI
No Smoking Sign. This is the international standard glyph for "No Smoking." It is simple & well designed, making it's simple message obvious to all who can see. Why is it still being ignored by people? This is a question for which there is no simple answer. I hope that by posting this work of functional art, the message can be repeated: You deserve to have a full life that does not include destroying your lungs or harming the environment. Think: if every tobacco field were turned into a forest, how good that would be for the planet! That, alone, is a very exciting concept. Help make it a reality!
Last night, there were very few surprises @ the 87th Academy Awards. Then, Lady Gaga, sang a tribute to the Sound of Music. It was utterly thrilling to witness her vocal virtuosity & versatility. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be an intact You Tube version, so the abbreviated version shared here will have to suffice. It seems that there was one, but it got pulled. Her tribute to Julie Andrews was a triumph for both women & proof of the timelessness of well written songs beautifully performed. And, never forget Mary Martin, who originated the role on Broadway!
It’s a shame not to be able to share this in its entirety. But you will have a sense of it, if you did not see the Awards.
Abbreviated Showing of Lady Gaga Singing Tribute to The Sound Of Music–22 February 2015.
The Sound of Julie Andrews
Mary Martin Climbs Every Mountain–Her Wonderful Acceptance Speech!
My only encounter with a singing banana was one I got from Safeway. I just learned that Safeway is going to be purchased by some other bigger-than-Safeway company, probably owned by the Koch Brothers & Comcast. My singing banana, once safely home, told me that it was a hybrid, and that it sang like Vera Lynn. It also told me, that if I knew what was good for me, I’d better not go around making any silly Vera Lynn jokes.
My banana, then broke into a beautiful Sound-a-like Very Lynn song. I can’t say it was lip synching as the banana, hybrid or no, had no lips to synch. So, after the concert, the only sinking left was for my teeth to end the #ParanormalActivity, and to keep my word about not making any Vera Lynn jokes.
I think the Koch Brothers are so depressing, that it was an easy promise to keep to my lovely hybrid singer. So, a fond farewell, to my Vera Lynn singing sensation.
Vera Lynn, Proper & Prior To #ParanormalActivites of a Transformational Nature
18 May 2014: We lost Jerry Vale, a man with a beautiful voice, a singer who did what a singer does, without gimmicks, and did it well. Not many from younger generations appreciated or knew of him. I was lucky enough to learn about people like him through the observations of my mother.
Somehow, I find the genre term ‘crooner’ a bit condescending. People would not call Linda Ronstadt a crooner. Nor was this moniker hurled at Rosemary Clooney. Known but to God, let a man with a good voice make a living by singing beautiful songs, and he gets called a crooner. It seems unfair, the first complete sentence many children utter when acquiring language.
Also unfair, and perhaps for vaguely related reasons, was the enforced name change. Born Genaro Louis Vitaliano, his name was changed to Jerry Vale, the only name most of us knew to call him. Hopefully, the culture behind these unfortunate & disrespectful name issues will change. Perhaps some day, a boy named Genaro will have a beautiful voice & be called a singer. In reality, that’s what we lost.
Rest in peace: Jerry Vale/Genaro Louis Vitaliano…
YOU TUBE TRIBUTE TO JERRY VALE
Jerry Vale Mala Femmina, Oh Sole Mio, Come Back to Sorrento LIVE recording
The newest addition to my active vocabulary is ‘standee.’ In the film world standees (pluralform) are the generally oversized, free-standing photographic (and sometimes accessory-laden) promotional items that serve to advertise films @ the multiplex theatres. AMC 1000 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco is one such venue. I imagine that some film festivals of newly released “A List” motion pictures have them. Some of them may be filtered down to some repertory houses that might have room for them.
By the grace of a horror film–so January 2014 of me-Paranormal Activities: The Marked Ones, I have become enchanted with them. I see these items as having potential for collectors, those with the green stuff & the space, and those of us who have a particular interest in one or two items. Other possibilities for re-use could include schools, kindergartens-even the opposite end of the age spectrum, assisted living facilities, might be good repositories for some items. It would be a valid re-use, and provide a charming, if somewhat temporary second home for some of them. It would be nice to see the studios engage in some planning that would prolong the shelf-life of these items. Tossing them into the dumpster is just another symptom of American waste.
The Original “Standee” for the upcoming Muppets Film MOST WANTED
This is the original version of the Disney Muppets film standee for Most Wanted. Here, you can see the image of the ever-brilliant Tina Fey.
At the very least, the theatre chains could at least keep them up whilst the films are still showing. It seems to brutal of the managers to toss this art-form into the dumpster in such a premature fashion.
After slight editing, there may be two characters you may have seen before?
Alas, Tina Fey was headed out by Her Imperial Highness, The Princess Melita Bonaparte. Also, Captain Spaulding makes an appearance. Beneath him lurks Princess Melita’s Twin Brother, Prince Roland Bonaparte II. They got their heads together @ 1000 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. Keeping your head off my shoulders allowed me to photograph these. Usually, it’s due to the ‘kindness of strangers.’
YOU TUBE TRAILER FOR THE MUPPETS: MOST WANTED
The Muppets have been around for a very long time & have engaged some of the most talented humans of their era.
Putting the Saint back in Valentine’s Day with a bowtie!
Today, dedicated to love, one of the world’s finest singers sings a love song with elegance & conviction, making it one of her finest recordings.
C’est ma chanson
Pourquoi mon cœur est-il aussi léger ?
Pourquoi les étoiles sont-elles aussi brillantes ?
Pourquoi le ciel est-il aussi bleu
Depuis l’instant où je t’ai rencontré ?
Les fleurs sourissent avec éclat,
Sourissent pour notre plaisir,
Sourissent si tendrement
Pour le monde, toi et moi
Je sais pourquoi le monde sourit,
Sourit si tendrement
C’est toujours la même vieille histoire,
Pour l’éternité
Mon amour, c’est ma chanson
Voici une chanson, une sérénade pour toi
Le monde ne peut avoir tort
Si dans ce monde, il y a toi
Je me fiche de ce que le monde pourrait bien dire
Sans ton amour, le jour n’existe pas
Alors mon amour, c’est ma chanson
Voici une chanson, une sérénade pour toi
Tonight, we get Peaches Christ et cie-presenting 9-5! Not much has changed, except now the bosses are women & the insanity comes from slightly different angles. It’s never about customer service, or getting the JOB done, but about making the boss look good. We still worship false gods & still go to their Christmas parties when we’d rather be somewhere else, instead of having to deal with people who like to score brownie points at the expense of a co-worker, to keep the boss happy!
Happy Days of Your Life: 9-5 You Tube
Dolly Parton Sings the Theme Song 9-5 in concert.
After watching the camera scan this arena, I totally ‘get’ Linda Ronstadt‘s career choice. When promoting her book in San Francisco, she mentioned that she did not want to spend the rest of her life singing in buildings that were designed for sports events…that the Greeks got it right with the invention of the proscenium Arch. “I wanted to sing on a stage that had curtains,” she said. Despite liking Dolly Parton & the classic 9-5 film & song, this inadvertently serves as a visual validation of Linda Ronstadt’s career moves.
