cafe Sunday

This afternoon, I walked to the market. A local bistro had outdoor heaters going with just two people having wine and a few plates of food. Pretty chilly, but they seemed unfazed but instead taken with each other and his eyes never left hers. This picture is of the Café au Rocher de Cancale in Paris.

Artists and the art

Recently, at a gallery I heard someone say: “Jackson Pollock was such a drunk. I can’t stand his paintings”. In 2005, I watched Tiger on the third day of the Open at the Old Course, number 12 (Heathery), and I’ll never forget the sound his club made as it “whooshed” through the air five feet away.

When an artist becomes the event, the thing, overshadows the art itself, the art becomes this bit of forgotten matter, which for a time doesn’t matter, but in the end it is the painting and the shot, the putt under pressure that endures, maybe. People argue otherwise. The artist does matter. We need to understand the artists to appreciate the art. Where the writer “was” is essential to appreciating the story. Who edited the work is just as important as what the writer originally drafted. The caddie is sometimes a crucial element of the player’s play.

Tiger an artist? Sure. There are the mechanics to his swing, the emotion of his play, his caddie, his grip, stance, and the way he accelerates the club head to make that distinctive whoosh sound that when combined with a ball makes an incredible distance result.

On that July day, Tiger never took his eye off the fairway while standing on the 12th tee. He pulled his three wood from the bag and took a few practice swings. Steve whispered to him to hit the three iron instead; took it out of the bag, shining the head. Tiger handed him back the three wood. Aim left of the bunker, that spot between it and the bushes. Three more practice swings and that whoosh. Silence. A huge crowd, no sound. Ernie Els standing with his arms crossed looking out toward the green. The ball streaks, the whoosh, follow through, staring down the ball as it hits a few feet to the left of the small bunker and kicks up on the green in eagle shape. Steve remarked he hit a better shot during the practice round and he might have teed the ball too high.

The Warning

Ths painting by Jamie Wyeth is huge...4x8. It was hanging around a corner and when I came upon it the seagull seemed ready to crash into me. Stunning and a bit frightening at first. There were no ropes in the gallery, so it was fun to stand back as well as get close to appreciate the texture and scale of this painting. I spent a long time here. Seagulls have always been a part of my life by the sea and in my dreams too. I wonder what the warning is all about. Rough seas?

Wyeth on Warhol

I was hoping this picture was part of the exhibit, but it was not there…I love the expression on Andy’s face and how he seems to look past you somewhere…this is by Jamie.

Mom's favorite Wyeth

My mother loved N.C. Wyeth’s works. This picture still hangs in the living room at the house on 17th Street in Avalon, New Jersey where Dad lives. I remember when we hung this poster. Mom bought it at a shop in Stone Harbor. A giant in the clouds, walking, as children at the beach pause and watch him stride across the horizon.

three Wyeths

I walked around the gallery at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art looking at the paintings and watercolors. N.C.’s work always grabbed me with its emotion captured in the form of people moving or the shadows and staring eyes. His paintings looked so fresh and alive there. Jamie’s works interspersed stood each with a unique set of circumstance, light, and subject, real as well as surreal. It didn’t feel competitive. I was afraid I would find myself comparing styles or looking for threads of genetic brushstroke techniques. Andrew's works, the most plentiful, paintings and those incredible seemingly minimal but highly complex watercolors. I thought of all the sketches that came before all this work, all the hand studies, hair, and shoes, wood grain, and pine needles. “Battleground” is an old familiar painting that hangs in the Nelson usually. Really felt good here amid all these family friends, these beautiful moments, these delicious colors, and stark landscapes. I remember visiting Chadds Ford many times as a kid, closed my eyes and remembered that landscape, but realized I was just remembering a few Wyeths that weren’t here after all.

Don’t try this if you’re ugly

There’s no way that couple could have pulled off the party-crash at the stately shrimp curry dinner had they not been attractive and rich. Actually his tux looked a bit tight, but the red dress may have blinded the Secret Service. We ugly people have a real problem these days.

Andy Warhol’s idea about the 15 minutes of fame requires a screen test. Rogues have to be attractive in order for us to tolerate their strange behavior.

Perhaps life in America is a mere extension of high school. Cliques, styles, labels, looks, and being ugly. The attractive invite opened doors. The ugly study hard. The plain people think they’re ugly. We classify people based upon their looks. There is a definite but unexplainable definition of attractive. Attractive wins.

Did the gatekeepers compliment her on her lovely red sari? Did he lead the way, or did she do all the talking? Was Joe Biden smitten? Was that his tux or a rental? Only a rich important ugly guy could escort her, they thought. He must have some bucks. State Department? What do they do? I’ve never been to that winery? Polo? Really? She looks taller than him, anyway. Yes, step this way. Have a nice evening.

Excuse me…yes you…could I see your invitation? Thank you, Dr. Kissinger, sorry. I told you that was him.

Lesson from the Irgun: terror works

Ami Pedahzur and Arie Perliger have written an interesting book called “Jewish Terrorism in Israel”. No one group can lay claim to the methods and tactics of terror, but the Irgun still looms large as lesson givers.

...and their young leader from 1943-48, Menachem Begin, has a legacy still influential in Israeli politics…after all, the Party he founded (Likud) rules today.

Bring the terror of war directly to the civilian populace, directly to the enemy’s compound, strike with indiscriminate lethal methods, create fear, and operate outside the rule of law. These seem to be lessons learned by many. In the case of Menachem Begin, the lesson is that unorthodox methods while criminal can in fact lead a path to eventual legitimacy and the creation of a state. We cannot rewrite history or hide this particular narrative…it is. The Irgun was to the British Forces in Palestine a criminal ruthless element. Use the irrelevant label terrorists if you desire. The Irgun was fighting for statehood.

These methods are carried out by people and it is in examining the people where Doctors Pedahzur (professor at Univ. Texas, Austin) and Perlinger (professor at State Univ. of NY, Stony Brook) have made this subject of terrorism a personified concept. When people marginalize themselves from society or as in Begin’s case as a young man, become marginalized based upon events, desperation fuels extreme behaviors. Social networking is a new Internet buzzword, perhaps, but the concept helps to explain terror cells and how fundamentally, they are groups of like minded people with similar experiences. Their book goes far beyond examining the Irgun but subsequent movements have a definite thread to the influential early organization.

Terror works. It’s hard to convince people otherwise. One wonders if Yasser Arafat as a young man learned from his enemy, Begin. Did Arafat learn from the Algerians success against the French? Did the Algerians learn from the Irgun? Did Shamil Basayev of Chechnya learn from Begin? Did the French Maquis (Resistance) influence the bomb makers of the Irgun? Maybe this artform was born in Ireland with Michael Collins’ flying columns of 1916? It all worked.

There’s much written today about counterinsurgency. We’ll probably hear President Obama give us a lesson next week…a teachable moment, but this complex formula for success, terrorism, as horrendous as it is, has more to teach us. Like nuclear weapons, methods of terror create fear and uncertainty and influence politics. And as long as world powers continue to kill civilians with conventional forces, the insurgents will have ample recruiting posters. What do these fighters want?

The Irgun’s successful operations against the British, ’44-48, during the Mandate in Palestine remain an influential lesson for Israelis as well as those who would wish them harm.

Jewish Terrorism in Israel

Ami Pedahzur and Arie Perliger
November, 2009
Cloth, 264 pages, 3 figures
ISBN: 978-0-231-15446-8

a reference for further reading about the Irgun or Etzel, I.Z.L.

it's called acting

One of the three actors used this phrase when we collectively said their performances were great. At first it sounded like pride, “…it’s called acting”, but in her own way she reminded us of her humility and dedication. This performance required practice and then some. It is called acting, indeed.

Sir Lawrence Olivier commented upon Dustin Hoffman’s grueling method acting technique of sleep deprivation while shooting the film “Marathon Man” (1976) when Dustin asked how he prepares…”Dear boy, it’s called acting”. Sure, in this discussion we were talking about the recent high school musical of four performances. We sat around the table with pies, three kinds all very delicious, and we reviewed the cast, characters, songs, dances, rehearsals, costumes, sets and performances.

These three young actors have found their talent, crafted it, practiced it, danced it and collectively stirred it with a big cast and more than pulled off an amazing musical comedy. It is called acting and while listening to them I learned more than I knew before then after a few years on stage crew and being a lifelong fan of theater. I merely saw the results of confidence-building repetition, learned how they absolutely hated a few of the numbers, and came to understand a great deal about Bob Fosse by making his moves come alive thanks to some expert channeling by the choreographer. Song, dance, and acting coming together in a seemingly effortless way, lines delivered as though the actor was really thinking them. Being in character, dressed in a thoughtfully designed costume, wig and makeup.

They miss the routine of all the rehearsals, gatherings, after stage time trips to Sonic, late nights, early Saturday mornings. Then they talked about the next show and one after that, the summer camp maybe, the college idea and wondered what musical their music teacher will select for next year. Let’s do a show this summer!

It’s called acting and they do it so well, yet they humbly talk as if they really don’t get it but they do and that’s the beauty and fire they possess…to put themselves out there, in the lights, and dredge from within their intellect signals for muscles, voices, expressions, breathing, tears, and tones. That was some “Pajama Game”. Wow.

AP history

I listened to them talk about the course
History a bit harder than the usual stuff others take
And the reading is pretty extensive
Events marked by wars
They spoke of American history by war
French and Indian
Revolutionary
War of 1812
Mexican War
Civil War between the states of northern aggression
The Indian Wars
Spanish American
Philippine Insurrection
World War I
World War II
Cold War
Korea
Vietnam
…and present times of fresh memory, the ink’s still wet

I wondered about the time between the wars…
Will they in an advanced state of examination, delve into the Depression?
Or some other named golden ages, industrial revolutions
Dust bowls, maybe?
These two who hopefully will never know war seem embedded in the conflicts
A great deal to read, a fast survey of highs and lessons to be listed
Subsequently forgotten when we get to the next shooting match.
The American Pageant…the advanced placement edition
5 pounds plus, 1036 pages
Now count the war years…and subtract from 2009 – 1754 = 245
We could start earlier, your choice
9+9+3+2+5+1+3+4+3+15+1+1+8 = 64
245-64=181 years of in-between time
Check the math and your personal conflicts too
Will the AP test include this?
What do I need to know to get a 3 out of 5, anyway?

white Plaza lights

I think that J.C. Nichols' design and vision for the Country Club Plaza is an amazing story. The shopping area is still beautiful and a pleasure to visit. But J.C.’s covenants which excluded Blacks and Jews from property ownership created a “bosnia” that endures in Kansas City. Those covenants really worked. As folks here are rather polite, it’s one of those things we just don’t talk about. But today, on a local radio discussion program, The Walt Bodine Show, while the panel discussed in usual rosey fashion the lovely architecture and the Plaza Christmas lights to be lit tomorrow night, the festive talk took a turn when a caller brought up Nichols’ segregation covenants. This is a guy who made millions with this business strategy. The panel did a rather lame tap dance, but the caller was quite calm and very informative…so much for the holiday spirit. His design mind was cool, though. For some his legacy is the Plaza and for others his legacy is an enduring racially divided city, still living in the shadow of those incredibly effective covenants.

I was...up in the air...too long

The film, Up in the Air, comes out this week, with George Clooney. From 2002 to 2004, I had a job where I traveled just about every week. It was an education, for sure. At the Portland airport in 2002, I picked up this book, published in 2001, and read it on the way home through two flights and a long layover at O’Hare. I liked it and gave it to a friend a few months later, someone living the business travel ninja lifestyle also. It was an interesting time for me and I often look back and wonder how I and my family got through it with so much separation and movement. This book captures that time for me very clearly. I wonder how the film will glean that atmosphere? Times have changed and our view of business travel is tainted perhaps. But it was a genuine book of its time, an organic narrative, very genuine.

to the stage with music

Here, the Rep presents a musical based upon the film “A Christmas Story” which was based upon Jean Shepherd’s memoirs and short stories.

November 20-December 27, 2009
Directed by Eric Rosen
Book by Joseph Robinette
Music and lyrics by Scott Davenport Richards

"You'll shoot your eye out!"

school choice

Bill Murray addresses the student body of the exclusive prep school called Rushmore :-)

"You guys have it real easy. I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here. Because the fact is, whether you deserve it or not, you go to one of the best schools in this country. Rushmore. You lucked out. Now, for some of you it doesn’t matter. You were born rich and you’re going to stay rich. But here’s my advice for the rest of you: take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs. And take them down. Just remember: they can buy anything. But they can’t buy backbone. Don’t let them forget it."

Inside John Peel's record box

If you see the current lame film called “Pirate Radio”, no one comes close to real deal as John Peel. Someone’s writing a documentary, or a biopic about this pioneer of broadcasting…He cut his teeth in America and took the grit back home to England. His love of music and musicians really set him apart from colleagues who selfishly made the show about their own personality. Maybe the White Stripes would still be the White Stripes, but the White Stripes will say that the White Stripes are the White Stripes because of John Peel. Peel died in 2004.

John Peel's record collection threatened to overtake his Suffolk home. But in a small, battered wooden box, the much-loved DJ kept a precious selection of 7-inch singles that meant more to him than any of the others. Here's the full list of 142 singles...by the way, in his will he asked that the Undertones' song "Teenage Kicks" be played when he exited the building :-)

have a listen here

1. Al Casey - Surfin’ Hootenanny + Easy Pickin (PIE INTERNATIONAL) 1963
2. Al Ferrier - I’m Not Drinking More + Don’t Play Blue Eyes’ (MASTER TRAK) 1980
3. Alan Price Set - I Put a Spell on You (DECCA)
4. Andy Capp - Popatop + Reco - The Lion Speaks (TREASURE ISLAND) 1969
5. Anemic Boyfriends - Guys Are Not Proud + Bad Girls in Love (RED SWEATER RECORDS) 1980
6. Ann Peebles - I can’t stand the rain + i’ve been there before (LONDON) 1972
7. Anti-Social - Traffic lights + teacher, teacher (DYNAMITE RECORDS) 1977
8. Arthur K Adams - Wildwood flower + It’s a wild, wild, wild, wild wildwood flower (JETSTAR)
9. Big Stick - Drag racing + Hell on earth (RECESS RECORDS) 1985
10. Bill Oddie - Harry krishna + on ilkla moor baht’at (DANDELION) 1970
11. Boards of Canada - Aquarius + Chinook (SKAM)
12. Bobby Lee Trammell - If you ever get it once + Don’t you know I love you (ALLEY RECORDS)
13. Cat Power - Headlights + Darling said sir (THE MAKING OF AMERICANS)
14. Charlie Feathers - Deep elm blues + Nobody’s darling’ (HOLIDAY INN RECORDS)
15. Charlie Feathers - Nobody’s women + When you decide (KING) 2x copies
17. Charlie Feathers - Today and tomorrow + Wild wild party’ (MEMPHIS RECORDINGS)
18. Charlie Feathers - Tongue-tied Jill + Get with it’ (METEOR RECORDS)
19. Charlie Feathers - When you come around + Too much alike’ (KING)
20. Cheeze - Dancin With The Dead - Dancin queen + Direwolf 1989 (BOB RECORDS) 1989
21. Clague - The stride + I wonder where (DANDELION) 1969
22. Clefs of Lavender Hill - Stop! - Get a ticket + First tell me why (DATE)
23. Cleveland Crochet - Sugar bee + Drunkards dream (GOLDBAND)
24. Don Covay - It’s better to have + Leave him (MERCURY) 1973
25. Don French - Lonely saturday night + Goldilocks (QUALITY) (LANCER) 2x copies
27. Dreamland Express - Groovy + u.f.o (EMI)
28. Easy Teeth - Car noise + Her blade (DENTAL RECORDS) 1980
29. Eddie & Ernie - I believe she will + We try harder (CHESS) 1984
30. Eddie & Ernie - I’m gonna always love you + Outcast (EASTERN)
31. Eddie & Ernie - Time waits for no one + That’s the way it is (EASTERN)
32. Electro Hippies - Mega-armageddon death (STRANGE FRUIT) Peel session
33. Elmore James - The sky is crying + Standing at the crossroads (FLASHBACK RECORDS)
34. Firemen - Old smokie + Louie’s theme (LE CAM)
35. Freshmen - You never heard anything like it + Bombing run (RELEASE RECORDS) 1979
36. G L Crockett - It’s a man down there + Every hour, every day (4 BROTHERS)
37. G L Crockett - Look out Mabel + Did you ever love somebody (CHECKER)
38. Geater Davis - For your precious love + Wrapped up in you (HOUSE OF ORANGE)
39. Gene Dozier & The United Front - Give the women what they want + The best girl I ever had (MERCURY) 1974
40. Golinski Brothers - Bloody + Toy (BADGE RECORDS) 1980 2x copies
42. Green Hornes - Stayed up last night (ITALY RECORDS)
43. Hooten 3 Car - Danny + Numena (RUMBLESTRIP RECORDS)
44. Idle Race - Here we go round the lemon tree + My father’s son (LIBERTY) 45. Izzy Royal - Coronation St (WEA) 1983
46. Jane Bond and The Undercover Men - Hot rod Lincoln + Come on up (EAR MOVIES RECORDS) 1982
47. Jerry Byro - Memories of Maria + Invitation (MONUMENT) 1961 2x copies - different labels
48. Jody Reynolds - Endless sleep + Western movies (LIBERTY)
49. Johnnie Taylor - I’ve been born again + At night time (STAX) 1974
50. Johnny Adams - You’re a lady + I wish it would rain (ATLANTIC) 1972
51. Johnny Fortune - Dragster + Soul surfer (SONET) 1964
52. Ken Colyers Jazzmen (TEMPO RECORDS) 1953
53. La Peste - Black + Better off dead (BLACK RECORDS) 1978
54. Larry Bright - Mojo workout + I’ll change my ways (TIDE)
55. Laurie Anderson - O Superman + Walk the dog (ONE TEN RECORDS) 1981
56. Lee Perry - Bafflin’ smoke signal + Black smoke signal (BLACK ARC) 1978
57. Lightnin Hopkins - Mojo hand + Glory be (FLASHBACK RECORDS)
58. Marc Bolan - Marc Bolan talking to Stevie Dixon, 1973. Jennifer Sharp, Steve Harley & John Peel talking to Stevie Dixon 1977. (CUBE/PYE RECORDS)
59. Mary Monday - I gave my punk jacket to Richie + Popgun (MALICIOUS PRODUCTIONS)
60. Max Romeo - Sipple out deh’ Lee Perry + Revelation (UPSETTER)
61. MC5 - Looking at you + Borderline (A-SQUARE RECORDS) 2x copies
63. Medicine Head - Coast to coast + All for tomorrow (DANDELION) 1970
64. Medicine Head - His guiding hand + This love of old (DANDELION) 1969 2x copies
66. Mel and Tim - Starting all over again + It hurts to want it so bad (STAX) 1972
67. Meow - Kat nip + One night stand + Anthem + Kill kill kill + Catastrophe + Boy groupies (TWIST LIKE THIS RECORDS)
68. Mickey Lee Lane - Tuitti Fruitti + With your love (MALA)
69. Mike Spencer and the Cannibals - Good guys + Nothing takes the place of you (BIG COCK RECORDS)
70. Nice - The thoughts of Emerlist Davjack (IMMEDIATE)
71. Nilsson - Everybody’s talkin’ (RCA)
72. Nilsson - Kojak Columbo (RCA)
73. Nilsson - Without you (RCA)
74. O V Wright - That’s how strong my love is + There goes my used to be (GOLDWAX)
75. Paul Blake & The Blood Fire Posse - Every posse get flat + Flat out (STUDIO WORK) 1984
76. Paul Revere & The Raiders - Him or me - what’s it gonna be? + Legend of Paul Revere (CBS) 1967
77. Pavement - Demolition Plot J-7 (DRAG CITY) 1990
78. Pocket Fishrmen (sic) - Yr story + The leader is burning (NOISEVILLE) 1989
79. Quads - You’ve gotta jive + There must be thousands (BIG BEAR RECORDS) 1979
80. Ray Martin - Blue tango + Bell of the ball (COLUMBIA) 81. Revelino - Step on high (MUSIDISC)
82. Rod Bernard - This should go on forever
83. Roshell Anderson - The grapevine will lie sometimes + Such a beautiful thing (CONTEMPO) 1974
84. Roy Head - Treat her right + So long, my love (VOCALION) 1965
85. Sam & Dave - I can’t stand up for falling down + Soothe me (STAX)
86. Sasha Caro - Grade 3 section 2 + Little maid’s song (DECCA) 1967
87. Scrugg - Will the real Geraldine please stand up and be countered + Only George’ (PIE) 1969
88. Sheena Easton - 9 to 5 + Moody (EMI) 1980 2x Copies
90. Sipho Bhengu - Tickey dopies + I saluti (INKONKONI) 1971
91. Soledad Brothers - Sugar & spice + Johnny’s death letter, with Jack White (ITALY RECORDS)
92. Some Chicken - New religion + Blood on the wall (RAW RECORDS) 1977 2x copies
94. Spit Out - O from I + Tan + Rot’n’roll’ (MA FROG RECORDS) 1996
95. Stanley Winston - No more ghettos in America + It’s alright (JEWEL)
96. Status Quo - Down down (VERTIGO) 1974
97. Super Sister - No tree will grow + She was naked (DANDELION) 1971
98. The Beatles - Come together + Octopus’s garden + Something (foreign pressing, country unknown)
99. The Big Three - You’ve gotta keep her under hand + If you ever change your mind (DECCA) 1964
100. The Buzzcocks - Ever fallen in love (UNITED ARTISTS) 1978
101. The Factory - Path through the forest + Gone (MGM) 1968
102. The Galactic Symposium - Y.M.C.A + Money (VAGUE RECORDS) 1978
103. The Legion of Super-Heroes - The great name dropper part 1 + The great name dropper part 2 (AMY RECORDS)
104. The Mark Four - Hurt me if you will + I’m leaving (DECCA) 1965
105. The Mighty Avengers - So much in love + Something they say (DECCA) 1964
106. The Misunderstood - I can take you to the sun + Who do you love (FONTANA) 1966
107. The Move - I can hear the grass grow + Wave the flag and stop the train (DERAM) 1967
108. The Negatives - Love is not real + Stakeout (LOOK) 1979
109. The Nightcaps - Wine wine wine + Nightcap rock (MUSICOR)
110. The Ramrods - Zig zag + Riders in the sky (LONDON AMERICAN) 1960
111. The Smoke - My friend Jack + We can take it (COLUMBIA) 1966
112. The Squirrels - Oz on 45 + Alone again (POPLLAMA PROD) 1988
113. The Undertones - Teenage kicks (GOOD VIBRATIONS RECORDS) 1978 3x copies
116. The Upholsterers - Makers of high grade suites (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD INDUSTRY)
117. The Upsetters - Bucky skank + Yucky skank (DOWN TOWN)
118. The Upsetters - Key card + Domino game (DL INTERNATIONAL)
119. The Users - Sick on you + I’m in love with today (RAW RECORDS) 1977 2x copies
121. The Versalites - Cutting rasor + Black belt Jones (DL INTERNATIONAL) 122. The White Stripes - Lafayette blues + Sugar never tasted so good (ITALY Records)
123. The White Stripes - Party of special things to do + China pig + Ashtray heart (SUB POP)
124. The White Stripes - Merry Christmas from.... (XL)
125. The White Stripes - It takes two, baby + Fell in love with a girl (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD COMPANY)
126. The White Stripes - Dead leaves and the dirty ground (XL) 2001
127. The White Stripes - Hand springs (EXTRA BALL RECORDS)
128. The White Stripes - Hotel Yorba (XL) 2001
129. The White Stripes - Lord, send me an angel (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD INDUSTRY) 2x copies
131. The White Stripes - Hello operator + Jolene (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD INDUSTRY) 2000
132. The White Stripes - The big three killed my baby (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD INDUSTRY) 2x copies
134. The Henchmen featuring Jack White - Some other guy + Psycho daisies (ITALY RECORDS)
135. 2 Star Tabernacle - Ramblin man’ (BLOODSHOT RECORDS) 1998 cover photo by Jack White
136. The Wildbunch - Danger - Jack White backing vocals (FLYING BOMB)
137. Surprise Package vol 2 featuring White Stripes, Rocket 455 and the Blowtops (FLYING BOMB)
138. Surprise Package vol 3 featuring The Real Pills, MHz, The Dirtbombs (FLYING BOMB)
139. Travis Wammack - Fire fly + Scratchy (ARA) 140. XL-Capris - My city of Sydney + Dead bugies (AXLE)
141. Yami Bolo - Richer than Cory (JAMAICA INTERNATIONAL)
142. Yardbirds - Happenings ten years time ago + Psycho diaries (COLUMBIA) 1966

Captain Millet’s Wolfhounds, Hill 180

President Obama visited Osan Air Base Korea today. I wonder if the President took some time to visit Hill 180? It was there that Captain Lewis Millet, commander of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry led the last major bayonet charge in American military history on February 7, 1951.

President Truman awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Lewis Millet died this past Saturday, November 14. He was 88. You can read more about the Colonel’s life here and his obituary in the NY Times is here, published today.

Millet trained a lot of soldiers. While many will write of his heroism, this soldier’s spirit lives in a very real way at Fort Benning’s Ranger School, and at Fort Campbell where he founded the famous Recondo School. He was a Ranger’s Ranger, someone who championed non-commissioned officers. He encouraged infantry soldiers to practice their “fieldcraft”, those skills to thrive in the wild, not just survive. He believed in conducting operations at night and he didn’t take a liking to the firebase mentality.

Lewis Millet loved his Regiment, the 27th Infantry, Wolfhounds. He loved to talk about training. Soldiers would want to hear his war stories, but the discussion always transitioned to training. There will never be another Lewis Millet, no one like him, and yet there’s a collegial continuum of soldiers departed to serving who share the Colonel’s spirit of the bayonet, his belief in tough realistic training, and his love for soldiers.

Rangers Lead The Way

for export

More countries need what we have. We have perfected the television theater of party politics laced with a bit of news. Other countries need this to enhance their body politic and encourage healthy debate, partisanship, and demagoguery. It’s about content. Distribution techniques, like the one shown, may be a bit too rustic for the French.

decisions

Listen to this…right down the street yesterday afternoon, someone found a baby in the dumpster by the deli in the alley. Right here. Whadaya reading that goes along with that song you're playin'?

This Dawn Powell book, Dance Night…she’s so funny. I want to meet her. She lives in the Village.

Really? You should find her and say hello, why not?

I should. She writes plays, I write music. You hungry?

Not really. I wish we didn’t have to go out tonight. You look great. You know what I mean. I mean, it would be swell to just stay home, or walk around the corner to the Maple Room for a drink. Have some food at Terry’s. You like Terry’s. Terry loves when you play piano.

We’re dressed. They’re expecting us. We could just eat in tonight. This book is great and I need to give it back to Erma on Monday.

She’s always lendin’ you books. New ones. That’s really nice of her. Relax. I’ll go get some food. I’ll call and tell them we’re just…ya know…I bet they’d love Terry’s.

I’ll call them. Order for me…surprise me. No lima beans, liver…

I know…dessert?…right, dumb question. You really look nice tonight.

You do too.

Where’s their number?

Here in my wallet…here.

Honey?

Yeah?

This says, dinner next Friday night at 8.

You're kiddin’ me, right? Play what you were playin' a little while ago...

Room In New York, painting by Edward Hopper

apotheosis

In America, we enjoy crowning superstars. It’s comfortable to point to someone and say…”…you define this”. Fans and the media love to tag athletes in this way. Make someone a defining, greater than the rest star. The term apotheosis appears often lately thanks to Dan Brown’s new book where he refers to the fresco in the Capitol Dome called “The Apotheosis of Washington”, a rather bizarre bit of symbolism we should sell to the Vatican. Western scholars blame this all on the Greeks. Unfair, I think. Blame deserves some sharing in Asia. This idea probably traveled along the silk road before the Greeks decided to team up. They get the word, though. Read today where someone of current interest has been called the apotheosis of hockey Moms.

Play; the music

Moby’s album, Play (‘99), has string of songs that set a mood, in a connected way, but with each a stand-alone piece of art. The artists, alive, recorded and looped, organic at the time interacting with the past, leave this ten years on as some blending that resonates with fundamental texture. It’s not a personality piece of someone. It reminds me of a giant canvas, abstracts, mixed media, with the artist drawing you in somewhere. A memorable portion of this sound for me comes on “Rushing”, with this barely perceptible sound of an electronic crack of a whip, but once you hear it behind the piano, it takes on the quality of a spark, with light as well as sound. In contrast to this, I was listening to Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged concert from 1993, tonight. Great basics, amazing, but still it seemed more about Kurt than the music.

window drawing in the view

Mateo Pericoli recently published a collection of drawings with the common theme being views of New York through a window. This one is David Byrne's view from his living room.

civil disobedience is passé

Our government has already celebrated this reality, and if they haven’t, they should. This may be one issue to unite both sides of the aisle, a definite bipartisan bit of relief. There may have been some nervous moments over the past year, but protests degraded quickly to media outdoor theatre. Brows wiped.

Civil disobedience and the art of conducting it, organizing the movement and message is dead too. A local example: this weekend, a minister organized a march to the local entertainment district up the street to voice ire at the seemingly unfair practice of turning away patrons who choose to dress in rap costumes. Granted, the issue is lame and, back East, this is solved with a few adept ACLU lawyers, and painful settlements…but here in the MidWest, we’re polite about these things.

I think the minister should protest the violence in his church’s catchment area. But they chose to march and few did. I stopped by to watch. The march was embarrassingly disjointed and without message. The three local news stations were there and the interviews ensued. The group stayed across the street from the district area. Perhaps they did not have a permit. In any event, it made me wonder about the dying expertise of organizing civil disobedience.

Martin Luther King and his followers, in the early days, wrote the modern book so to speak. I wonder if anyone from that era is carrying on the traditions, the organizational techniques of competent protest? Is this a dying art form, or merely dormant?

Since the attacks on 9/11, our appetite and patience with protest seems diminished. Understandable. Fear to speak out, write, assemble. Higher stakes. More sophisticated government oversight.

Fundamentally, there is no large issue out there with a moral imperative. Some may point to economic issues, the Tea Party libertarian groups, but the economy is not a passion-driving issue. It’s more like a business school case study debate. If it is a big issue, why is it so…inconsequential to the citizenry?

Having observed two gatherings of Ron Paulers locally, I came away from both astounded at the lack of organization and intellectual depth. The local groups need some competent business school graduates to articulate the issues intelligently.

Because of ignorance, the government need not be worried about civil disobedience in the foreseeable future. For while the issues could provide fuel, few have the ability to stoke the furnace competently. The skill is gone.

human capital morgue

It’s a localized case study for business students and certainly a personal saga for those who await their exit from Sprint’s human capital account. The “sprint connection” blog is a good place to watch the saga unfold. Today, one can celebrate the stock’s 6% climb. But the looming layoffs explain the perceived vitality of the company’s image, such as it is.

Publically shared businesses need to increase shareholder value. It is a basic rule. In this lean economy of ours, every move, every decision appears to have higher risk. Human capital is but one dimension of a company’s resources to balance.

The antiseptic language of management can ring hollow. While we track numbers of layoffs on the business pages, plot graphs, and analyze data points, it’s fitting once in a while to add some humanity to the discussion. It’s also fitting for young people to take note about the realities of corporate employment, to peer above their textbooks and take note of this current case study.

Don’t feel threatened. Be realistic. Know that your talents while important, your hard work while commendable, and your personal dedication are not enough for job security. There are many attitudes for you to adopt as an employee. Take some time in the future to speak with workers, friends and family, to learn their attitudes about employment, how they view their relationship to their company.

Even when the economy bounces back to wherever it bounces, these periodic resource decisions to trim and instill confidence in shareholders will continue. It must be done. One billion invested here, but come from somewhere. Lost customers there, equates to lost revenue numbers here. In balancing the bubbles, remember that human capital, while very human, is one of those measurables.

windows

It snowed last night, after midnight from around 1 to 3. I woke up around midnight and made a pot of tea, settling into the couch with a book of essays. Today, the snow’s gone and it looks as if the city merely had a sprinkle of rain overnight. My window faces west and lets me watch the progress of the Performing Arts Center. It’s not a spectacular view, but it’s mine and I really like it.

New Novel

Detail from the Winslow Homer painting called "New Novel"

improvisation

Today, listened to a discussion about Robert Altman, the director of M*A*S*H (1970) and other great films. Robert died in 2003. Tonight his wife and the author of a new biography speak at the library. Altman's belief in the authenticity of improvisation reminds me a lot of Mike Leigh, the English director...their styles of production are different, but the results feel similar to me. My favorite Leigh film is "Secrets and Lies" (1996).

just a day

Reading James Joyce’s Ulysses…this time it feels as if the workaday day of June.16.1905 is less daunting and simpler than before. Navigating the day, some of the conversations feel like those you overhear, gleaning snippets, and some just too obvious to be able to ignore, definitely in the TMI category. There’s something very elemental about this book, and I’m trying to get a handle on that.

the spirit of Kansas City

Rick Montgomery of the Kansas City Star wrote a nice piece today about the steadfast optimism he sees in Kansas City. We certainly need a few positive happenings given all the layoffs announced last week. The Chiefs beat the Raiders today, 16-10. That was sweet. Rick referred to a painting called the Spirit Of Kansas City by Norman Rockwell, painted shortly after the flood of ’51. It appears the fellow, armed with blueprints and a slide rule, just realized that his builder walked off the job site. This white collar engineer also has a steer behind him which is a worry. Maybe his banker is taking a holiday in that airplane?

Lynn Vincent’s prose for Sarah Palin

Lynn Vincent wrote Sarah’s new memoir, “Going Rogue”, to be released tomorrow, and on amazon marked down today from it’s retail price of $28.99 to $9. Sarah will appear on Oprah this week…will Oprah mention Lynn’s anti-gay public writings…after Oprah hung out with Ellen and her bride last week? Should Sarah take Lynn to the “Hillary Coffee Summit”?

complex families

Could we learn anything by studying someone else’s dysfunctional or interesting family? The family saga story in fiction and non continues to be popular. The holiday film rollout always has a home for the holiday meal gathering of strangeness set of selections that run together year after year. Two families fascinate me lately and I’m trying to make sense of them…the Abraham family and Muhammad’s family…I’ll make my own an added third. Fair enough.

No movie script or soliloquy from Hamlet or even David Sedaris can match the story of Abraham. So many faiths have ownership in the saga, with many people including Muhammad claiming kinship with the guy and his children. Map out the family tree, consider the tribal roots and places he moved into, the wives he had, the covenants with his god and it’s a mind boggler. Dismiss it as myth if you choose, but we seem to be living the aftermath of this dysfunctional multi-faceted family today. Many people on opposite checkpoints with loaded weapons pointed at one another all claim this guy as their distant father either spiritually or even blood-wise. It has gotten me thinking lately.

Move forward in time a bit and Muhammad, claiming ancestry to Ishmael, starts multiple families, with multiple wives as was and is still in some places the custom. But without a son, after his death a feud ensues among his extended family and followers and we live today with the legacy of that feud…the Sunni-Shia split. Complex for sure. Deadly, every day.

So when we write or speak about Islam, it may be appropriate to start to refer to Sunnis and Shia separately…for they are different. And their rivalry is violent, not just philosophical or historical. In killing eachother, as all killing seems to claim, innocents suffer.

Understanding the Sunni-Shia split is as fundamental as understanding the Reformation and all the denominations that it created over the years. Judaism’s many forms explains the spectrum of the faith as well as the complexity of Israel’s politics. The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox present a world of belief variety before any study of Protestants.

Abraham and Muhammad’s family story foreshadow the complexity of today in more ways than faith and god selection and naming. Tribal structures, the concept of the tribe, the family, the family land, the covenant concept, the family economies, the role of women, warfare, subjugation,…life is there in its many dimensions if we could all agree, in the literature, the words, the story.

Families split in many ways. Understanding why they split is important. Understanding the effects of the split is something many of us live every day and try to understand along the path of living. It makes me think of how this nature of the split is universal. We speak about families in the sense of their unifying effect, the unit, the closeness. But addressing the fragments of family has a great deal of applicability today, whether you're planning Thanksgiving, or negotiating a peace settlement somewhere.

Delve back to Abraham and Muhammad…these stories are modern.

Ellen Welch Granter's birds

Titled Central Park 7, Ellen conveys a moment, a gathering, with cool color, clear, an elegant show of five very animated subjects, each their personality expressed. This picture makes me feel calm, like a quiet sit on park bench, reading, glancing up and catching this moment quietly. Granter painted the cover for the current bestseller "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.

the naked guy looks like Buddha

a late seventh-century seated Rshabha, from Bihar, Eastern India

Jainism co-existed with Buddhism in India and still does. The belief structure sees the world as a complex machine-like system, with what we see as the earth being a small section of the cosmos. Life unfolds with alarming violence. Periodically a savior-like figure appears to lead us with wisdom, dwelling among us for a time and then becoming divine, rising to a higher place, like the moon. Interesting that while the beliefs co-exist, the art of Buddhism and Jainism are similar because many of the artists created pieces, paintings, sculpture, even literature for patrons of both beliefs. Artists can cross blurred lines of religion, politics, nation-states, and other man-made systems. Were there believers who believed in both ways of thinking? Seems possible...

Costume parties at Power and Light

The current dress code controversy in the Power and Light District is really an argument about costumes. Costumed customers enjoy the music and atmosphere. It's a fun place. The sports costumes look colorful and fun too; blues, purples, black and gold, and red.

None of the costumes are that scary.

Why all the emotional capital about costumes, trouser fittings and hat azimuths? As cowboys say, one can tell where a cowboy’s from by the bend of his hat. The cowboy costume is so cool that there are large cowgirl cutouts above one of the bars there. We know why those cowboys and girls wear those tight pants…it’s to prevent chafing while riding, right? But wait a minute…urban cowboys and girls rarely bring their mounts downtown.

It’s a costume, from their hat down to their boots. Then we have all those wonderful school colors to enjoy. Local higher education institutions enjoy a great deal of advertising on game days. Big screens, sports action, your favorite team’s ball cap affixed proudly, even if you couldn’t pass the entrance requirements. It’s fun and sometimes authentic, but after all, it’s a costume party.

The urban gentry in the Crossroads venture north in earth tones, black and browns, duck into cool spots and have fun too. As unobtrusive as their look appears, they too are in costume. Their look creates a mystique…for about three minutes.

Why are we so lathered about costumes? Let’s embrace them all and in the process enjoy the fun and business.

An alternative dress code enforcement strategy could be to issue patrons (a wonderful word…patron) beige jumpsuits, safety helmets, and yellow belts…standard, a good safety color and pretty “costume neutral”…

KCTV 5 reports that there will be a costume protest rally in the Power and Light Saturday at 3pm…wear your favorite.

World's End...

Along an s-curved section of the creek called the Loyalsock in Upstate Pennsylvania, 750 acres...my parents, brother and I spent a few wonderful weeks there in summers, late 50's, early 60's. We stayed in a cabin...we stayed in this one, number 14, built during the Great Depression as a public works project...rustic...Mom cooked wonderful meals, Dad taught us to fish, we swam, hiked, and ventured to picturesque spots like the overlook called Canyon Vista...and always the adventure of going to the outhouse in the middle of the night with a flashlight and the promise of a snake or a spider...breakfast on the porch...nice...World's End State Park.

first Friday in the Crossroads, Nov. 6

This should be a fun night...a gathering of friends, wine, food, a chance to catch-up...a walk around the neighborhood galleries together.

out of balance

Frank Morris of KCUR, (our local public radio station at 89.3) interviewed General Casey, the Chief of Staff of the Army, on Wednesday, and Frank’s story aired yesterday morning…
listen at this link. I thought it amazing for Casey to be so candid at a time when people are calling for more deployments.

Casey: "The Army is out of balance. We're so weighed down by our current commitments that we can't do the things we know we need to do to sustain the all volunteer force and to prepare ourselves to do other things…the Army has grown by 40-thousand soldiers since early 2007..."

The force is "nipping away" at what some see as a critical shortage of mid-level officers, caused, Casey says principally by the army's transformation into a counterinsurgency force.

Then yesterday afternoon…the massacre at Fort Hood Texas perpetrated by a mid-level officer.

visual devotion Nov. 6

Below, there's a piece about Davin Watne's art installation at 10th and Main...Friday night he will perform with a group around the corner...performing art..visual devotion...8pm, at 201 16th St. between Grand and McGee

The Arts Incubator at the Crossroads

I enjoy the buzz, the fun, the art and the artists at the Arts Incubator on 18th Street. Looks like they’re having a party on Nov 14… Can’t wait to stop by tomorrow night for First Friday, too.

A year away from Grant Park

Since Barak Obama departed Grant Park in Chicago, a year ago we’ve come to know a President who has traded his moral and spiritual message of change to a utilitarian process of bureaucratic maintenance, business preservation, public investment, and attempted change to an overpriced but thriving business sector.

It’s time he visited the park again to remind himself of a few things…

Here’s a reminder for your viewing. Watch his victory speech again if you like. Many of you will pass this by for good reasons. You remember it, well.

In the speech he spoke about the answer and admittedly, we didn’t know the question that night.

Were you moved that night? How are you doing today?

Richard Anthony Allen

Say what you want to say about Dick (we knew him as Richie when we were kids in the sandlot in Chester, Pa.), but he played ball...batted great, a super left-fielder and despite Philly's tough attitude toward him, Richie was tougher and meaner...almost as mean as Bob Gibson. I remember watching him play, sitting in the left field deck at Connie Mack Stadium...Richie catches a fly ball...and walks over to the third base line and hands the ball to a young boy...pretty cool for a tough guy.

Picture of Allen in 1964 when he was Rookie of the Year

when exceptional spoils

This morning, I listened to local builders, contractors, and a consultant propose forming a “Capital Projects Division” in the city’s government. They are tired of the slow and disjointed bureaucracy that they see stunts the growth of Kansas City public works and infrastructure projects.

They desire a change based upon their pleasant and profitable experience while building the Power and Light District.

Recently an urban historian called our recent growth, the project downtown, “non-organic”…it was an exceptional project, something special and out-of-the-norm.

Presently, business people hear of stimulus funding awaiting consumption. The funding requires efficient and fast grant-writing, project planning, centralized control, and quickly awarded contracts.

However, Kansas City’s government is back to its “organic”, slow, divided, fiefdom collection self again. The Power and Light is...lit.

The city manager is relaxed and crowned a hero, by some. The city departments have said goodbye to all the consultants who parachuted in with best practices and driving zeal.

The exceptional time spoiled everyone, lulled them into a high-powered time of streamlined autocracy (not bureaucracy) not unlike the business atmosphere and system in China. Like China, the government could, for a short time, turn on a dime as the promise of profits danced in their heads and consultants consulted. Crash, boom, bam, we’re not only back to organic normal, but now in a slump of epic proportions. A new normal? Hardly.

To make this more complex, the spirit of exceptionalism is alive and well again as people who can profit from the stimulus, see clearly that unless the city becomes a lean and aggressive player, no one will play because no stimulus money will arrive under the current state of the disunion. It seems to be a repetitive story here.

The good news is that Kansas City has never been a boomtown…and that is part of its beauty and a secret of success. Despite non-organic, exceptional situations, the splendid disjointed diversity of this city keeps us stable in storms both euphemistic and real.

The bad news is unemployment continues to rise.

What I heard this morning were four people who need a job and are ready to hire people as well…these were job-makers, people who build things.

Can the government of Kansas City and its complex agencies make a change to capitalize on these potential, admittedly temporary, “exceptional” funding streams that are part of the stimulus package?

The people may be disheartened and possibly angered when they realize that we lost jobs due to selfish turf conflicts in their elected collection of personalities.

Peter Brookes' views

Peter Brookes is one of the cartoonists for the London Times and has a way of grabbing your eye with a clear message…most of the time. Often the satire escapes me not understanding the context… check out this slide show of his recent work. Funny stuff but not.

dreams without resources

People are seeing their dreams dashed in many ways. The resources are not there right now to bring visions into reality. Beginning at the personal level to the community, we realize our dreams may not be resourced this year.

COMBAT (a local drug prevention program) may have to engage in peacekeeping. The Green Impact Zone may have to weather a chilling un-weatherized winter. You need a job.

This dynamic extends around the Metro area to varying degrees. Soon we’ll be reading about the dramatic budget cuts at the State levels in Kansas and Missouri. Soon we’ll read the details of all the pending grants log-jammed in Washington to acquire that stimulus money we’ve read about. Then we’ll read about all the grants that should have been written months ago, for programs that will go into the column labeled lost opportunities.

Citizens are beginning to see that there are a myriad of uncoordinated, un-resourced programs intending to use public funds, locally. It’s becoming clear that despite the need for coordinated efficiency and leadership, we see too many similar programs. Private foundations certainly have a great role, but the public’s foundation deserves leadership. Given the complex geography and complex government structures, state and county lines, the resourcing cannot happen, or even happen fast enough.

While local governments may wish to collaborate, too many factors stand in the way to allow for rapid, aggressive, and efficient development planning and operations. We need not blame ourselves...it’s the nature of who we are and where we live and the borders we border, our zones and districts.

We have an enormous capacity to dream. But now the resources are scarce or non-existent. Once we considered new taxes as they affected our property tax and take-home pay. Now, many of us have neither a home nor a job. Right now, this talk of new taxes, or continued taxes for programs for targeted communities away from our mailbox just seems harder to affirm.

Our capacity and tenacity to dream will become stronger now, as we shall see. Hard times have a way of pushing us out of desperation with that innate human ability to make hope a muscle.

Vote...

areas of concern in Kansas City

This past June, The Kansas City Star published a three-part series called the Murder Factory (read here). The story centered on the “64130” zip code area of Kansas City, shown in the map above, outlined in red.

- Today, I listened to a committee leading the Green Impact Zone Project (the zone is superimposed upon 64130 above).
- On Oct. 20, Mike Sanders, the County Executive for Jackson County spoke to our editorial board about “light rail”.
- The Mayor has a “New Tools Committee” to find ways to economically revitalize (resuscitate) this area.
- The new Superintendent of the KCMO School District, Dr. John Covington has a community vision.
- UMKC will conduct an urban planning study in the Green Impact Zone.
- KU wants to do a sociological case study there.
- Tomorrow, the citizens vote either yes or no to continuing the COMBAT (Community-backed Anti-Drug Tax) tax for another seven years.

At this time, these programs and concerns are not resourced. Right now, it’s all rhetoric. In these lean times, the rhetoric has gotten in the way of action and the window of opportunity to resource, to get the money, has come and it will be gone tomorrow unfortunately. I sense the city’s citizens have realized that this area of concern must concern itself with its own concerns while safety dictates a police escort for evening meetings.

This area of Kansas City is unsafe for many reasons.

Today, I worked to write something to explain the incredible, uncoordinated desperation that I sense from the people speaking on behalf of this area of Kansas City. What I realized today is that these uncoordinated agencies require a leader with tenacity and impatience.

It also concerned me that this Green Impact Zone is a publicly funded “.org” - http://greenimpactzone.org/

Resourcing cannot happen until there is leadership, but sadly the emerging leaders, should they emerge, will not have any resources to chase...it is a desperate situation.

Can we conserve and correct?

Sam Tanenhaus makes a compelling argument for calling President Obama a “classical conservative” in the tradition of Edmund Burke. Tanenhaus’ title for his new book has put off conservatives "left and right" at bookstores.

Those walking away from the book should know that he is one of America’s best writers about the history of conservatism.

Tanenhaus’ new book is called “The Death of Conservatism”…I did not note that in the tag paragraph above for fear of you passing this by…it is not a negative partisan treatment of the word.

His book is based upon his article in this past February’s New Republic…click here and read it.

Back to Obama…what makes him a classical conservative? In essence, Tanenhaus believes that Obama follows the philosophy of Edmund Burke (his works are available at the Project Gutenberg website)…which is in summary an approach to conserve and correct. Sounds paradoxical.

Visit the Charlie Rose website, search on the archive for Sam Tanenhaus (10/28/09) and listen for yourself. He believes it’s too early to judge this President with but 10 months in office.

From a Newsweek interview, Sep 7, 2009:

Who do you see as the plausible leaders of the right in the next decade? for that matter, will there be one "right," or possibly a Palin party and a Pawlenty party, to put it very roughly?

This is the crisis now facing the right and principal reason I wrote this book. The movement has exhausted itself and depleted its resources. Before the GOP finds a new leader, it will need a new vocabulary. Political ideas don't change much over time and political debates don't either. (Remember, TR, FDR, and Truman all favored national health care. So did Nixon.) But the tonal difference between a Joe McCarthy in 1950 and a Reagan in 1980 is enormous. And it is the intellectuals who must reinvent the conservative vocabulary, by thinking hard again. I once asked Bill Buckley what brought him to Goldwater and then Reagan. He said, "They came to me." Bill Buckley had the ideas and the language. These ascendant leaders needed to master both.

This book provides suggestions to revitalize the conservative movement.

His next project?...the official biography of William F. Buckley, Jr.

Robert Crumb’s Genesis

Crumb’s "Book of Genesis Illustrated" is compelling. In his latest book of comics, Crumb's illustrated journey through the book of Genesis captures the stories with amazing imagery and suggestion. The book was always great but this really made me think and want to re-read it soon. You may remember Robert Crumb’s work, Fritz the Cat or his illustrations for Harvey Pikar’s American Splendor… Crumb is a renegade genius. I just have this image of seeing this book show up in Sunday school. This art will touch a great deal of people who were once disgusted by his work…pretty amazing. When asked what his next project is, he replied that he may go back to pornography…he laughed at Crumb, which is the nature of his genius maybe.

Uplifted Arms re-installed today

…at 10th and Main, on the sidewalk of the bus stop, two gentlemen re-installed local artists Davin Watne & Dylan Mortimer’s beautiful pieces called “Uplifted Arms”…the sight of this public art coming home was uplifting for everyone watching.

The installation crew mentioned that the pieces suffered damage a while ago, vandalized. With the new sidewalk work done, it’s time to place the pieces back where they belong, among the people. Uplifted Arms was originally dedicated on December 1, 2005.

The title of the work describes the poses of the ten life-sized figures, rendered in flat cutouts of brilliant stainless steel, and etched to incredible life-like detail. They stand attached to blue or green plexiglass that allows the light to dance through them and with today’s sunlight, cast a wonderful shadow.

Since this is “First Friday” week, have a look at this stunning installation on your Friday night wanderings, driving by, or waiting for the bus.

Visit this site to read more and see pictures. We're so lucky to have "Art in the Loop".

Davin Watne’s website is here.

Dylan Mortimer’s website is here

Three cheers for the installation crew, humble as they were, from “c & g construction”…great job, guys !

certain words sell well

The word flies through the digital network like a comet in the sky. Everyone stops to look. And like a comet, the word comes around the discussion universe periodically for more hits. But the word merely baits you.

Get off the hook. Stop reading here and write your daily essay, live your life well, and share your goodness with someone today…

This writing will stymie the search engines due to the lack of proper names, upper case bolded places, links, and incendiary terms. Your search has a deeper meaning. You look for answers and intelligent questions. You know you can reply here if you want with something short, or a lengthy piece with your own title and by-line.

You know how words can incite us, create an actual emotion, an elevated heartbeat, and more words. We know certain words sell, and in this age of online news and discussion, there are marketable words with arresting effects like a loud foghorn, that grab us and even shake us in a way.

The word itself is not awkward or uncomfortable, it’s the context and more often our personal context. Who we are and how we became the person we are, or who we think we may be, directly affects our connection with the word.

In the marketplace of words with the immediate feedback of marketability and hit counts, certain words deserve to be gold-plated, tagged for their value and perhaps even someday traded like shares. In the meantime, get off the hook.

Have a cheesesteak :-)

Game 4...wow

Game 4 was exciting...ninth inning rally by the Yankees, a win, 7-4, the Phils stunned. The Philly fans are used to the stunning, the disappointment. This is baseball after all. Growing up, liking both of these teams, this series really feels special and fun.