Friday Flowers: All My Pretty Mums

Chrysanthemum: Lavender Pixies


Frenzy
(By Anne Sexton)

I am not lazy.
I am on the amphetamine of the soul.
I am, each day,
typing out the God
my typewriter believes in.
Very quick. Very intense,
like a wolf at a live heart.
Not lazy.
When a lazy man, they say,
looks toward heaven,
the angels close the windows.

Oh angels,
keep the windows open
so that I may reach in
and steal each object,
objects that tell me the sea is not dying,
objects that tell me the dirt has a life-wish,
that the Christ who walked for me,
walked on true ground
and that this frenzy,
like bees stinging the heart all morning,
will keep the angels
with their windows open,
wide as an English bathtub.


Although her birth date ought to be celebrated on November 9th, Friday would not cooperate, forcing me to delay our Anne Sexton day for a couple of days. ;-)

You may recall how much I adore confessional poetry; well, the confessions of Anne Sexton are the best. Her poems have an intense potency, with passionate cadences and startling imagery. The authenticity of her voice stops time and realigns the world.

Chrysanthemum: Yoko Ono

And the mums? I took so many photos of the beauties at last weekend's show that I couldn't just let them languish on my hard drive or get Flicked away, lost in the sea of information. Yeah, it's not as if Paideia has the largest readership in the world, but at least they get to share a post with Anne Sexton.

Who could ask for more than that? ;-)

Weekly Wrap: Thursday Night #1

Balloon Dog (Blue) by Jeff Koons

Although we began the week with great promise, switching up a variety of topics, from art to poetry, from music to cinema, sickness sent our productivity plunging, with Paideia falling short of the ten post minimum, which is why the Weekly Wrap is appearing on a Thursday night.

Actually, I think Thursday may be a better place for the Wrap. For some reason, my energy levels are higher, perhaps because of the morale boost of the upcoming weekend. Whatever the cause, writing seems to come easiest on Thursday.

The last time I missed a few days, back in July, my readership took a serious hit, but that wasn't the case this time. It appears that various "evergreen" posts will keep on pulling readers regardless of my activities. The Paideia corpus of writing has apparently achieved a self-sustaining draw through Google, especially image searches. It's weird to think that I could disappear and people would still come by looking for Erin Esurance, Balloon Dog, Pazuzu, and the Madrona Marsh.

Well, I'm happy for the readers, but I'm happier to be healthy and blogging again. ;-)

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind

So here are the ten posts for the week.

We did three art posts. First, we looked at the Santa Monica Museum of Art's Beatrice Wood exhibition "Career Woman." Then we featured Balloon Dog from many different angles. Finally, we reported on our Pacific Standard Time activities. Fun stuff!!!

We actually had two cinematic posts, featuring birth date celebrations for the talented and beautiful Vivien Leigh and the awesome soundtrack composer, Ennio Morricone.

Music was also featured twice. First, we reflected on Enya's Shepherd Moons album. Then, hidden behind the Lord of the Fries zombies, we listened to some classic Patti Page songs.

Friday Flowers were bitter roses. And a chrysanthemum show at the Descanso Gardens continued our fascination with flowers well into the Fall. ;-)

Rounding out the topics, we had a viewing of some old Felix the Cat cartoons. Righty-O!!!

And now for some weirdness:

Run, chicken, run!!! You don't want to be "Bird Meat"!!! (Art: Brian Snoddy)


Enjoy!!!

Ecstasy of Gold

"Ecstasy of Gold" scene from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)


The creative alchemy that turns an average movie into a good movie, a good movie into a great movie, a great movie into an all-time classic, is generally found in the music, the unvoiced sounds that capture the spirit of the most memorable of scenes.

There are many great cinematic score composers, but my favorite might be Ennio Morricone. There may be composers with greater technical skill. There may be films that have stronger scores. But I'd say that his music is the most distinctive, yet appropriate to the movie. His genius lies in merging his personal aesthetic into the subject matter, creating a work that expresses the cinematic premise in a musical articulation unique to his compositional voice.

Oftentimes, movie music is "incidental" or ornamental, not an integral part of the scene. That's the situation with much "soundtrack" based scores in contemporary films. Obviously, production companies want a nice set of singles to release on the side for added revenue. There's nothing wrong with that, but it loses the sense of authenticity and coherence that a real musical score brings to the movie.

Detail from a promotional poster for The Mission (1986)

So, let's wish Ennio Morricone a Happy 83rd Birthday and listen to some great music.

Whenever He Gets in a Fix

Felix the Cat debuted on November 9, 1919 in Feline Follies


We can't let the day pass without celebrating Felix the Cat.

As a child, I would wake up bright and early on weekday mornings to watch old Felix cartoons, specifically the television series from the late 1950s to early '60s. The Professor and Poindexter brought me a great deal of amusement. It wasn't until I was significantly older that I found out about the early silent shorts featuring Felix.

Cool stuff!!! ;-)

"You'll laugh so much your sides will ache."


Let's look at some vids.

Cowabunga, Fries, and a Strawberry Pie

"Veggies" Card illustration from Lord of the Fries (Cheapass Games, 1999) by Brian Snoddy


Whenever I become significantly ill, the wanderings and incoherent flights of fantasy that twist through my mind like dust devils, churning up the detritus of memories, disrupting my regularly planned activities, be it at work or play, with images of absurdity and logical non sequiturs, these fevered whims knock me silly!!!

Over the past few days, I have been unwell. My apologies for neglecting duties here at Paideia. Although it didn't seem to disrupt readership in the slightest, I feel bad that I didn't even pop in with a vid or photo. I'm not at full health, but I'm not going to let another day slip by without a post or two. Since I'll not be hitting our ten post minimum, we'll be shifting our Weekly Wrap to Thursday night this week.

So, what's up with that zombie up above? Well, that's just an example of something lost in the caverns of memory that illness draws back to the surface. Monday morning, I commented that I felt like a zombie. It was pointed out that zombies are fashionable at the moment. I replied that I didn't feel like a scary undead killing machine, but a moldering corpse toiling at endless banality. The image of "fast food" zombies came to mind.

I spent an anguished eternity trying to remember from where the vivid image originated. Yesterday, the memory clicked. It was from a card game, Lord of the Fries, designed by James Ernest and illustrated by Brian Snoddy, published by Cheapass Games in 1998, with a "de-lux" edition released in 1999.

"Sauce" card from Lord of the Fries (Art: Brian Snoddy)

The game was nominated for an Origins Award. It's a general hand management game in which a player receives a set of cards and needs to work on building "order" combinations that yield points. The game ends when one of the players empties their hand, at which time point tallies are compared. The deck with the highest point yield wins. That may sound a bit complicated, but it's actually easy and fun in actual play.

Pacific Standard Time: Weekly Update #4

Pacific Standard Time Logo

Well, this week was a bit of a drag. Poor health and a busy schedule kept me from enjoying a week of art appreciation. Nevertheless, I was able to revisit an exhibit and see a new one. That's not too bad.

My schedule is looking mighty tight for this upcoming week. So I'm not expecting to do much PST art trips. Moreover, I'm drastically behind on checking out gallery shows. While I am fully enthusiastic about viewing the historic roots of the Los Angeles art scene, I've been neglecting the contemporary treasures that are on view at art galleries across the city. That's got to be remedied.

So, it looks like we'll be taking the PST project at a slower pace for a while. Well, at least that ought to allow me to catch up on writing about the exhibitions that I visited.

Anyways, here are the shows seen this week:

Armory Center for the Arts

"Speaking in Tongues: Wallace Berman and Robert Heinecken"

LACMA

"California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way"







As with last week, I'm hoping to hit a big show this week. ;-)

Enjoy!!!

Mums the Word

Chrysanthemum: Star Prize


Just because we're at mid-Autumn doesn't mean the Paideia flower shows will be letting up. We'll just be featuring a different line of beauties. And this time we're celebrating the Queen of Fall, the Golden Flower, the lovely Chrysanthemum.

The Descanso Gardens up in La Canada Flintridge were holding the 79th annual show of the local chapter of the National Chrysanthemum Society. As you can expect, nearly eight decades of showing have created a community that grows some amazing mums!!!

The variety of chrysanthemum types were well represented. Whether you like anemones or decoratives, pompons or quills, all categories were represented with glorious displays.

Chrysanthemum: Kermit

I don't often make my way up to the Descanso Gardens, requiring a five freeway trip from my place down in the South Bay. But this show was well worth the time and effort.

Tomorrow Is Another Day

Vivien Leigh as Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)


It's been a while since I posted about a cinematic topic, but Vivien Leigh, one of the most breathtakingly beautiful women to grace the silver screen, was born on this day in 1913.

There is a cliche that great beauties are not great actresses, a sentiment that receives ample anecdotal evidence in the eye candy fluff churned out by the modern movie industry, but this fallacy crashes and burns when applied to Vivien. Two Oscars and a Tony Award are proof of her ability, as are the iconic performances that become immortalized in Hollywood history.

Were all of her performances great? No. She would occasionally let her looks carry the dramatic weight. Other times, it seemed as if the directing was showcasing the "pretty" and undercutting her acting abilities. Regardless, Vivien brought more stage presence and dramatic sensibility in her right eyebrow than you could draw out of a bevy of contemporary beauties.

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind (1939)

So, let's take a moment to think about the many wonderful memories and images that Vivien Leigh has left us. What are your favorite scenes or lines?

Seven Views of Balloon Dog (Blue)

Balloon Dog (Blue) (1994-200) by Jeff Koons

In my previous post, I discussed how I selected photographs of roses so as to drive viewers to read the poem that I had selected for Friday Flowers. Among my flower posts, the Rose get the most page views. However, in the back of my mind, I thought about Balloon Dog.

People are always doing searches for Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog. In my stats, it seems to pop up a few times a week. The funny thing is that I haven't actually made a post about it, only various works of art around it. But even with just cameo appearances, it puts up numbers that none of my flower posts can match, not even roses.

So, for all you Balloon Dog image pilgrims, here are some views of Balloon Dog (Blue) on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in the Jane and Marc Nathanson Gallery on the third floor of the Broad Contemporary Building. If you're looking for Balloon Dog (Yellow), sorry but I don't live in New York City. ;-)

Balloon Dog (Blue) by Jeff Koons

It's a cool sculpture for certain.

Friday Flowers: Bitter Roses

Rose: Prima Donna

This Is A Sin
(By C. K. Williams)

right off we started inflicting history
on each other day after day first thing this
is historical and we gave dollars for it
and this and we gave movies and sad poems
and obviously newspapers and a little less
valentines and sometimes it got right
up against us and into us we would squeeze
it out like a worm it would come back
by itself through the pancreas through
the eye or womb and with great tenderness
on the faces of wives and babies we
would reinflict it until there was
such beauty it was unbearable because
it was too much history too much suffering
and also birds suffering their leaps
from branches dogs
lifting their dark mouths the paths
of mantises cows plopping were we afraid
of what would be left of us? sometimes
a person was erased entirely
and children dead of shame stuck
upright in the snow like pipes the wind
screaming over them or I would forget
you darling your breasts the wind
over them our lips
moving darling the child the wind breasts
our lips over them


Today we're wishing a Happy Birthday to C. K. Williams, born on this day in 1936. The intensity of his poetry makes it a hard read, drumming a rough rhythm into the head, evoking images in disturbing juxtapositions, but it drives the mind into serious contemplation, which is what I most admire in poetry.

Rose: Lime Sublime

And I'm pairing his poem with roses because I want people to read it. No other flower gets flow through internet traffic like a rose. Not orchids, dahlias, fuchsias, magnolias, begonias, sunflowers, hibiscus, plumbago, marigolds, irises, or daisies. In the assessment of the Google Image search, roses reign supreme. ;-)

Flows On In an Endless Song

Image from the video of Enya's Caribbean Blue (1991)


Twenty years ago, Enya's Shepherd Moons album was released. I wasn't familiar with Celtic "New Age" style music, but I immediately became a fan, enchanted by the ethereal beauty of Enya's voice.

My compact disc collection started to swell with Irish music. I'd listen for radio programs that would feature it, such as NPR's "The Thistle & Shamrock" or KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic." This passion for Celtic music soon drifted into an enthusiasm for World Music in general. My musical horizons broadened at a rapid pace.

But at the root of my growing appreciation for exotic sounds was a love for the female voice, a romantic infatuation with sweet lyricism and dreamy melodies. When I imagine the voice of my Muse, she sings like Enya.

Shepherd Moons by Enya was released on November 4, 1991

Let's listen to some music.

To Find a Matching Teapot

Doubled Handled Bowl (1987) by Beatrice Wood


For much of the history of western art, the "lowly" potter's craft has been overlooked, dismissed as mere decoration, as if ceramics were little more than playing with mud, expressing no "higher" aesthetic values.

American pottery of the mid-20th century challenged that ignorant and elitist frame of mind. And no place was more trendsetting and innovative than Southern California. One of the most distinctive ceramic artists was Beatrice Wood, who amazingly had learned the craft in her late 40s!!! According to the story, she was looking for a teapot to match a pair of lusterware plates, but couldn't find one. So, she decided to learn how to craft one for herself, beginning six decades of amazing luster glaze ceramic masterpieces.

Currently, the Santa Monica Museum of Art is exhibiting "Beatrice Wood: Career Woman - Drawings, Paintings, Vessels, and Objects" as part of the Pacific Standard Time event. It is a comprehensive display covering a wide selection of styles and themes that Wood had developed over the decades. Moreover, there are some really obscure works on display, such as her drawings or journals, which rarely receive viewings, providing rich insights into her creative process.

Luster Chalice with Ten Handles (1982) by Beatrice Wood

But the main draw for me were the alluring lusterware vessels. They have a dazzling faerie glamour that catches the eye, bringing to mind tales of magic and high heroics.