Happy 2nd Blogiversary, Paideia!!!

Detail of Decadence and Despair (2012) by Sarah Joncas

Two years of blogging!!!

It seems like such a long time, like something that I've been doing for ages. I've had plenty of ups and downs, cycles of productivity and stagnation. There have been countless shows, exhibitions, and events. I've written about numerous topics, from music to religion, literature to automobiles. Every day, a new topic and novel experiences provide grist for the mill, material that churns through my mind processing into a blog post.

Even with the wild fluctuations in my posting rate, I have averaged one post per day for two years!!! That's some serious dedication. Actually, that's borderline obsessive compulsive behavior!!! ;-)

To be honest, the last year has been rough. However, there is always something in which I can find joy. And this keeps me going. As the past few months demonstrate, I've got the writer's stamina to play the long game, to put up a body of work both prolific and diverse.

It may not be much, but it's something, a little thing, about which I can feel some pride.

The sun sets behind the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas.

Anyways, I'd like to thank all of you who read this blog. I know that my meanderings from topic to topic, rambling enthusiasms and critiques, and haphazard photography make Paideia a choppy read. So, I want to express my great appreciation. There are so many interesting places out there in the vast expanse of the internet that I'm honored to have you visit this site.

Hopefully, the upcoming year will have entertaining and informative material that I can share with you all. The world is filled with beauties and delights; I hope that we may find them and take satisfaction in the discovery.

Again, thanks for reading. May the next year bring us happiness, prosperity, and wisdom!!!

Enjoy!!!

February: Decades of Music

Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" was one of the hits of February, 1998.

It's that time again, when we take a stroll back through the years and listen to various hits from over the decades. This month, our selection is eclectic, ranging from instrumental to hip hop, but it's predominantly mainstream. I didn't go looking for off-the-beaten-path songs. Diverse though they may be, these were all chart toppers.

For all the criticism that can be lobbed at popular musical tastes, it's kind of nice seeing how different styles and sounds gain prominence over the decades. Any list that includes such varied music as from the likes of the Bee Gees and Queens of the Stone Age, Toto and Alicia Keys, is a list that can be appreciated. These songs capture the quirkiness and trends of their day.

Alicia Keys' "Like You'll Never See Me Again" made its mark in 2008

Well, let's listen to some music.

I Found My Thrill

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino was born on February 26, 1928

Rock and Roll pianists are not very common in contemporary music. They're even more scarce in Rhythm and Blues. Back in the early days of our contemporary styles of popular music, in the 1950s, this wasn't the case. The dominance of the guitar was still around a decade away and the influence of Boogie-woogie piano blues was strong.

Perhaps the most iconic performer of this style of music was Fats Domino. In spite of the racial biases of the era, his musical talent brought him into the attention of mainstream popular music, helping to kick off the diverse mix of musical styles that became Rock and Roll.

And since it's his birthday, let's celebrate by listening to some of his songs.

Soup of the Day

Soup of the Day: Wine!!!

Well, I don't have much to share today. Composing a decent blog post takes some time and effort, but I'm a bit tired right now, recovering from a terrible night of fitful, anguished semi-sleep. By the way, did you know that people can have allergies to bananas? Yeah, it's seriously unpleasant. ;-)

Nevertheless, I figured we could have a good ol' whimsy post, with a quirky "image of the day" for our entertainment.

Enjoy!!!

Rededicated to the Arts

Shadows by Hush at the Corey Helford Gallery's exhibit Flying West for the Winter

In the old days, I used to feature at least one gallery review per week. It wasn't a scheduled feature, but was just an integral part of this blog. Well, I've been slacking off for far too long. It's time to bring back the art as a regular part of Paideia.

The reason that I stopped doing the gallery posts was because I wasn't getting to visit them as frequently. My working situation changed, making a quick lunchtime stop at Culver City or Bergamot Station less convenient. And you can't write a proper review without seeing the works in person; looking at the images on a website isn't the same.

Fortunately, over the past few days, I've been able to check out quite a few galleries. There is a whole lot of excellent work out there about which I would love to write.

Red Delicious by Linda Hesh at the Lois Lambert Gallery

So, here are a few works that caught my attention this weekend. But there were so many more. Hopefully, I'll be able to write up a few posts for you all over the next few weeks.

We'll see. ;-)

School Night by Okay Mountain at the Mark Moore Gallery

Enjoy!!!

The World Looks Mighty Good to Me

"Whatever it is I think I see becomes a Tootsie Roll to me!"

Inventions in foodstuffs are notoriously hard to properly date, but today is as good as any to celebrate the creation of the Tootsie Roll in 1896. These chewy chocolate-like rolls have sweetened the palates of children for many generations. Sticky and dark, they've kept many a dentist in secure occupation as well. ;-)

I was never a Tootsie enthusiast. Although chocolaty, they were not actually chocolate bars, and, in my youth, I wouldn't settle for anything less than the real deal. Moreover, the gooeyness never appealed to me, as it clung to my teeth in a viscous tar-like manner. Yuck!!!

Nevertheless, Tootsie Roll commercials filled the airwaves between cartoons throughout my childhood. The famous jingle from 1977 will probably be floating around in my brain long after important memories fade with age.

"Tootsie Roll, I think I'm in love with you!"

Friday Flowers: Magnolias

Magnolia: San Jose

Sonnet I (from Renascence)
(By Edna St. Vincent Millay)


Thou art not lovelier than lilacs, -- no,
  Nor honeysuckle; thou art not more fair
  Than small white single poppies, -- I can bear
Thy beauty; though I bend before thee, though
From left to right, not knowing where to go,
  I turn my troubled eyes, nor here nor there
  Find any refuge from thee, yet I swear
So has it been with mist, -- with moonlight so.

Like him who day by day unto his draught
  Of delicate poison adds him one drop more
Till he may drink unharmed the death of ten,
Even so, inured to beauty, who have quaffed
  Each hour more deeply than the hour before,
I drink -- and live -- what has destroyed some men.

Magnolia: Brozzonii

Today, we celebrate two "old fashioned" beauties, magnolias and the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Both have a variety of culture connotations that might bring to mind bygone eras. Yet, when assessed for that which they are, free from bias or expectations, both the flowers and poems have undeniable beauty, as vibrant and charming today as they were generations ago.

So, let's wind up the week with these gentle beauties.

Magnolia: Verbanica

And, yes, these are photographs that I took during my trip to the Huntington. With so many gorgeous flowers in bloom, it'll be a few weeks before I can share them all.

Then, it'll be time for the Spring blossoms. ;-)

High Priestess of Soul

Nina Simone was born on February 21, 1933

When I began appreciating jazz, blues, and soul music, I wasn't very interested in the music of Nina Simone. First, her vocal style seemed too "cool" or "mellow" for my tastes, a bit too understated. Where I was listening for vocal gymnastics, she would deliver pauses and gradual modulation of notes. When I wanted staccato flourishes of scat improvisation, she would segue into spoken word.

Therefore, I was not very enthusiastic over the works of Nina Simone.

Later, when I was forming my feelings towards "authenticity" of performance in classical music, specifically the role of the performer as "re-creator" of a work, rather than "historical reenactor" or impersonator, my attention returned to Simone's works, as a modern example of how a performer can creatively reinterpret a piece creating a new experience and entering into an aesthetic dialogue with past performances. From this perspective, I finally realized her great talent.

Nina Simone did things her way. When she performed a piece, she channeled it through her own unique artistry, shaped by her distinct life experiences and colored by her personal interests and emotions. Each song was created anew through her interpretation.

I am now quite the enthusiast of Nina Simone. ;-)

So, let's celebrate her birth date with a bit of music.

Prickly

The Desert Garden at the Huntington, with more than 5000 species of desert flora in 10 acres

Here are a couple more photos from my trip to the Huntington.

I'm not big on desert flora. Having a slight case of trypanophobia, I try to stay well away from needles and other such spiky, piercing objects. The shapes and colors of these desert plants are certainly interesting, well worth viewing, but it's a tense experience for me. Nevertheless, I'm happy that I overcame the phobia long enough to appreciate a part of the garden that I rarely visit.

And the desert flora is easy to compose into interesting photos.

More cacti and diverse succulents

As long as there are nice and wide garden paths, these weird prickly plants make for good viewing, but you will not find me scampering among their piercing presence in a wild terrain any time soon. The lily ponds and camellias were welcome sights afterwards. ;-)

On the Hunt

Detail of Diana (1894) by Frederick MacMonnies

This past weekend, I got to visit the Huntington Museum, strolling through their collection of American art. I'm especially fond of the sculptures of the collection. I've shown a few of them with you all over the past few years, but the MacMonnies Diana has yet to grace Paideia.

And, now, the situation has been rectified. ;-)

Enjoy!!!

2013 Weekly Wrap #4

Tinker Bell admires her reflection in a mirror.

It has been two weeks since we last put up a Weekly Wrap.

Well, we're still keeping up a reliable daily posting average. Moreover, the topics have ranged across the spectrum, from Disney animated features to Imagist poetry, from liberationist reggae to commercialized "meat product", from flirtatious coquettes to gloomy lighthouses. The wandering focus and diverse interest of Paideia was in high form during this recent period.

There is plenty of space for improvement, but I'm currently satisfied with the consistency, the fact that I'm producing something new almost every day. Although my readership is still down, decimated by Google's new image search, those that remain seem to be "quality" readers, interested in the blog's content rather than a grandstanding image, like Daphne Blake exposing her panties at Bergamot Station. ;-)

So, maybe the reduced readership is an improvement for now. We'll see how it goes.

Lawrence, eyes obscured by reflections

Let's get to the Wrap:

We covered two holidays, Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day. On both occasions, we had the joy of admiring Barbie in seasonally appropriate finery. Additionally, a couple works from the local museums got the "front page" treatment, as part of the festivities.

We also had two Friday Flowers, orange clivia and blue forget-me-not, the later being paired up with the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop. But one poetess wasn't enough for us this time around. We also put the birth date spotlight on the works of Amy Lowell.

Food and drink were not far from our minds either. We enjoyed some rum, be it mixed with Coca-Cola or worked into a fancy cocktail. Then we "enjoyed" some SPAM; well, we enjoyed mocking the cartoon mascot, Sir Can-a-Lot. ;-)

Our journeys took us to a couple local lighthouses, but our imagination also flew off to Neverland in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Disney's Peter Pan. Though we occasionally felt zombie-like, deprived of vigor and joy, the rousing music of Bob Marley kept us from succumbing to the hopelessness of Babylon!!!

Finally, we listened to some music by Ladyhawke while looking at a photo of a fountain. Yeah, it was kind of random.

And that was how we went over the last "week" of blogging. I'm looking forward to another set of exciting and engaging posts for the upcoming week or so.

Point Fermin lighthouse at night.

Enjoy!!!

Another Random Photograph

Water jets forth from the fountain top at Heritage Court, Redondo Beach

Well, another photo blog is what I'm giving to you today.

A special oddity of my behavior is my love for randomization. Every so often, when at a loss in making a decision, I like pulling out the dice or cards and letting fortune choose my course of action. That's what happened today; I have things about which I would like to write but possess no time for it on this morning.

Therefore, I opened up my image folders, counted up the viable files, selected some dice, and rolled up a result. Yeah, so this somewhat phallic "image of the day" doesn't reflect any peculiar mental state that I'm experiencing or whatnot. ;-)

One thing that is so awesome about establishing determinative randomization is that such methods may be used for a wide array of subjects. For instance, we can select music. . .

Friday Flowers: Orange

Clivia

Just a flower tonight. Maybe we'll have a poem and music next time. ;-)

Enjoy!!!

Writing Love Letters

Detail of Young Girl Writing a Love Letter (1755) by Pietro Antonio Rotari

This week, we've got a bunch of holidays crowded together. When celebrating Mardi Gras, two days ago, I posted up an appropriate work of art from the local art collection. I figured that would be a fun thing to do again with today's Valentine's Day post.

Therefore, here's Pietro Rotari's Young Girl Writing a Love Letter, one of my favorite paintings from the Norton Simon Museum. I adore her coquettish, sidelong glance and confident, almost saucy, demeanor. Her actions indicate that she's daydreaming about the object of her adoration, but her pose implies that this object is actually the viewer!!! It's a playful piece that I enjoy visiting time and again, both to appreciate the work and to observe how other viewers react to it.

It's especially fun to see the difference in reaction between women and men. ;-)

Anyways, we can't have a holiday post without Barbie.

Queen of Hearts Barbie (1994, designed by Bob Mackie) says "Happy Valentine's Day!!!"

Likewise, whether you have a sweetheart or are currently going solo, this day, like every other, can be as good as you can make it. So, seek out that which makes you happy and have a wonderful time!!!

Glorious Spam!!!

Sir Can-A-Lot, cartoon promoter of Glorious SPAM!!!

We'll there are a whole lot of silly cartoon characters used to shill various foodstuffs. Perhaps one of the silliest is the  "spokescharacter" that SPAM introduced to celebrate their 75th anniversary, Sir Can-A-Lot. This diminutive knight goes about surprising people in their kitchens and exhorting them to spice up their meals with "Glorious SPAM!"

Yeah, that's not a word pairing that one hears very often. ;-)

Anyways, I figured we could do with a whimsical post tonight.And every one's favorite "mystery meat" is on the menu!!!

While the Thrill Is On

Mardi Gras Barbie says "Laissez les bons temps rouler!!!" Now, throw her some beads. ;-)

Well, it's Fat Tuesday and we can't let the day pass without some type of celebration.

I've been taking a couple days off. That'll put me in good spirits to power through the Lenten season, in which I plan to post each and every day. I might even write on occasion about religion or spirituality, topics that I avoid but, oddly enough, about which I have a considerable amount of knowledge.

Normally, I don't like writing about matters that might upset my readers. We're here for the fun, not to quarrel across the internet. But changing things up every so often is probably a good policy, keeping fresh the random stuff that pops up here at Paideia. We'll see how it goes.

Boulevard Montmartre Mardi Gras (1897) by Camille Pissarro

But, for today, let's let the good times roll. ;-)

Become a Habit

Shadows and reflections upon the surface of a car, gilded illusions of the day's final hour

A Fixed Idea

(By Amy Lowell)

What torture lurks within a single thought 

When grown too constant, and however kind, 

However welcome still, the weary mind 

Aches with its presence. Dull remembrance taught 

Remembers on unceasingly; unsought 

The old delight is with us but to find 

That all recurring joy is pain refined, 

Become a habit, and we struggle, caught. 

You lie upon my heart as on a nest, 

Folded in peace, for you can never know 

How crushed I am with having you at rest 

Heavy upon my life. I love you so 

You bind my freedom from its rightful quest. 

In mercy lift your drooping wings and go.

Three trees illuminated in the late afternoon light

Well, I was in the mood for more poetry. ;-)

I really haven't very much to share today. But, since it is Amy Lowell's birth date, we can appreciate her lovely poetry and call it a day.

Friday Flowers: Forget-Me-Not

Myosotis sylvatica: Victoria Blue

One Art

(By Elizabeth Bishop)

The art of losing isn't hard to master; 

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or

next-to-last, of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident

the art of losing's not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like a disaster.

Forget-Me-Not

Another Friday. More flowers. ;-)

And today we're celebrating the birth date of one of my favorite poets, Elizabeth Bishop. With such beautiful words, such compelling verse, she is in no danger of being forgotten or lost.

Lost Bikini

Lost Bikini cocktail

I'm the type of person who takes comfort in gustatory pleasures, rich meals and smooth beverages. This is especially true for those periods in my life when things have me down. Now, it is really very extremely bad to let my Epicurian delights get the better of me. So, I impose limitations, projects, and other mental diversions to reduce intake through arbitrary procedures.

Yeah, that sounds silly, but it works for me. Therefore, since grief might drive me to excessive imbibing, I'm making a point of savoring a single drink per day. Moreover, I'm limiting it to rum drinks for February. That's because rum is very filling and reminds me of happy, warmer days.

Moreover, various rum cocktails are so pretty and of delightful coloration, from the dirty green of a Crocodile to the deep azure of the Blue Hawaiian to the Psycho's lurid crimson. And they taste absolutely delicious!!! ;-)

Well, we'll see how it turns out.

Relentless and Restless

Detail of Big Box Zombie by Nathan Fox, illustration for Bloomberg Businessweek (Oct 18, 2012)

Some days leave you feeling like a shambling ruin, one of the walking dead, too tired to do anything but slump over a meal and look at anything on television. It can be a grind.

For me, this is one of those days. Fortunately, I had some interesting videos to get my brain back into functionality, and the pizza was a help too. Yum!!!

My life has been consistently bad this year, with only a few upsides. Yet, I have somehow been able to keep up a daily stream of blog posts. I really don't know how I set aside some time to write these things, but it's kind of cool that I do. Yeah, almost nobody reads my stuff, but that's alright. I take pleasure in composing these little works, from attempting to structure eloquent prose, to searching out a photo that best captures the mood of the text, and then selecting some fun videos to wrap things up.

Eh, I don't know if I'm doing a good job at it, but practice makes perfect. I'll keep on going until I finally fall apart, a moldering mess at the keyboard. ;-)

Second Star to the Right

"You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!!!" - Disney's Peter Pan was released on February 5, 1953

Today marks the 60th anniversary since the release of Walt Disney's Peter Pan. Although I wasn't around to see the first run of this movie, I caught it on a subsequent re-release during the 1970s. It is one of the first movies that I remember seeing and, therefore, it has always had a special place in my imagination.

As a child, my interest was in the fantasy adventure elements of the story, as well as the mischievous antics of Tinker Bell, always the troublesome pixie. However, looking at it again in adulthood, the themes of nostalgia for the carefree days of youth create a bittersweet counterpoint throughout the story. I eventually read the original work by J.M. Barrie and, though it was a bit of a grind, my appreciation for the story grew.

There's something very pertinent about Peter Pan to those who cultivate artistic aspirations. The desire to express how one feels through an aesthetic work is a very intense engagement with the imagination, an act of innocence which presumes that others would actually wish to receive one's creative vision. Every time one reaches within one's mind to engage in artistry, it is as if the artist is journeying to their own personal Neverland.

Tinker Bell stuck in a keyhole

Yet, it is so hard to make a living as an artist, of any type. There is always a nagging pressure to "grow up" and "be responsible" by getting a "real" job or accepting assignments that pay the bills but have little to do with artistry, in other words, selling out. Moreover, there is nothing fun about being a starving artist, working part-time minimum wage jobs in retail or food services to barely get by.

Even with supportive friends and family, it is hard to ignore the social expectations into which we are born. An inner voice will always criticize the "perpetual childhood" of the artistic life.

But, when the creative spirit flows, all the troubles of this world fall away. You can fly!!!

Beacon of Light to Pierce the Gloom

Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, built in 1874

Although the sky was leaden, I went to visit a couple of the local lighthouses, Point Fermin in San Pedro and Point Vicente in Palos Verdes. From these locations the view of the Pacific Ocean is especially dramatic, seen from high upon the bluffs with Catalina Island in the distance.

At Point Fermin, I was able to enjoy a tour of the building, learning about the site's history. Walking among the antique furnishings and looking at the old photographs, it was interesting to think of life back in those days, before the Los Angeles region had been developed, when it was a rough frontier town. Without our modern irrigation bringing greenery to this prominence, the cliffs would have been a barren and forlorn place in which the keeper's family would have lived in near isolation.

A view over the Point Fermin bluffs down at the Pacific Ocean

On the other side of the peninsula, at Point Vicente, there was no tour of the lighthouse, which was built in 1926, an era with a larger population and much improved communication and transportation technologies, making life as a lighthouse keeper a little less lonely. However, the nearby Interpretive Center was very active with whale watchers, seeking to spy a few of these leviathans on their migration down the California coast.

I saw no whales during my visit, but the playful antics of some dolphins made for fun viewing.

Point Vicente Lighthouse in Palos Verdes, built in 1926

The weather matched my mood, but keeping busy, appreciating tales of times long gone and enjoying the natural wonders, lightened my disposition. Now, the grey clouds of unhappiness are still weighing down upon me, but maintaining an active mind and seeking out activities to engage my imagination will lead me through the gloom.

2013 Weekly Wrap #3

Twilight, overlooking the Pacific Ocean

This has been a very bad time for me.

You have probably noticed that I'm dealing with serious unhappiness in my personal life. Well, to make matters worse, Google has played around with its Image Search, resulting in a massive drop of viewers to this blog. To explain the situation in a succinct way, the images of this site can be viewed in full without having to actually visit this blog. Therefore, Google Images gets the traffic that my content generates, but Paideia gets nothing.

Now, as I have said on past occasions, I don't blog for fame or fortune. My goal is to share information, ideas, and my diverse enthusiasms with anybody who is interested. It's all about learning and experiencing, conveying my love for the arts and sciences to others and, hopefully, encouraging them to cultivate a similar passion for learning. I am an evangelist preaching a gospel of aesthetic revelation.

Therefore, it doesn't really matter if it's me or Google that gets the credit. As long as my message is expressed, then this blogging is worthwhile. However, I am a rarity in this matter; most bloggers want something for their hard work, a reward for the content which they create. Yet, their material is being scraped away and their traffic revenue is plummeting. That's not fair.

I'm waiting to see if the situation will be addressed. It feels somewhat unethical to be donating my content to Google when they're causing such difficulties for my fellow bloggers. I may have to close down the shop or stop putting up images. We'll see.

Lawrence under the nearly leafless branches

Anyways, here's the Wrap.

We had four Art related posts. First, we appreciated the street artistry of Angry Woebots. Then we visited CoproGallery to view the exhibit, Conjoined III, filled with ghoulish imagery. Next up was a birthday celebration for Claes Oldenburg, featuring some of his works in Las Vegas. Finally, we appreciated Cesar Santander's painting of Betty Boop, which was part of Route 66, an exhibition at Skidmore Contemporary Art.

There were two Friday Flowers, a white winter and some Birds of Paradise. Silly Saturday took us to the World of Mr. Toast. ;-)

We brought back our monthly celebration of music, looking at the songs of January over the decades. And then we had three photo posts, some random groceries, leafless trees, and an image of twilight descending; it was a weepy collection.

Anyways, we'll see what the future brings. I'm driving in the dark right now, but I don't know when things will brighten up, when the sun will eventually rise.

Detail of Midnight 76 (2012) by Eric Nash, part of Skidmore Contemporary's Route 66 exhibit.

Enjoy!!!

Champagne Coupe, Garnished with a Boop

Detail of Betty in a Glass (2012) by Cesar Santander

You all know that we love Betty Boop here at Paideia. So, when I saw this painting by Cesar Santander at Skidmore Contemporary Art, I was thrilled. If only I were a wealthy man. . . ;-)

Well, I'm a bit short on time at the moment, but I figured that this image would make for a fun way to celebrate our Silly Saturday post. If time permits, I'll try to write up a post on Skidmore's current exhibition, Route 66, which is full of the mid-century imagery that I love so very much. Yeah, I can get a bit nostalgic from time to time.

Anyways, here's some music.

Friday Flowers: Paradise

Strelitzia: Bird Of Paradise

Dreams

(By Langston Hughes)

Hold fast to dreams 

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

Crane flowers and a blue sky

Did you know that the Bird of Paradise is the official flower of the city of Los Angeles? Given the way that they thrive out here, it doesn't surprise me. Even in the midst of an unusually cold winter, these hardy plants are still thriving.

Well, it's certainly nice to see these bright colors. ;-)