2013 Weekly Wrap #7

Detail of Sunbathe Barbie at Bombay Beach (2009) by Jen Trute

Well, it's been over a month since we last put up one of these Wrap posts. I really ought to drop the "Weekly" qualifier from the title. On the other hand, I've been picking up the pace. Perhaps, we will eventually get back to a rate of production that justifies a weekly wrap.

Of course, the bulk of posts have been "image of the day" types. That's cool with me; it is better to create content and share, than let the front page stay idle. At some point, I do intend to increase the writing, reviewing, and critiquing elements of this blog. I do intend to bring back some videos and musical treats. However, for now, quickie picture posts will do the job.

And who doesn't love the occasional Barbie doll photo-blog? ;-)

Lawrence at the Getty, on a hazy day

So, let's look at the Wrap:

As mentioned above, there were many image posts, ten out of eighteen in total. These included a couple sunsets, the Palos Verdes Promenade at night, views of Los Angeles, the "Pink" Moon, an empty tram at the Getty, a train ride at the South Bay Galleria, Tapwanu masks, views of San Diego, a clocktower at the Farmers Market, and another sunset sky.

Regarding Art, we had three posts. One featured the Richard Jackson exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art. Another focused on Bad Dog, which was featured at the Jackson exhibition. Then, we looked at a few Alebrijes. Fun stuff!!!

Two holidays were celebrated, Earth Day and Cinco de Mayo. Barbie was our hostess for each. ;-)

Friday Flowers were tulips. We listened to some Native American flute music from R. Carlos Nakai. Finally, we celebrated the thirty year anniversary of Flashdance. Woo hoo!!!

Well, that's it for now. I'm looking forward to sharing more and more interesting images, memories, stories, and thoughts with you all over the next week and beyond. Thanks for reading!!!

Richard Jackson's Bad Dog may have moved on, but he left his mark. ;-)

2013 Weekly Wrap #6

Barbie celebrates the 80th anniversary of King Kong

Curses!!! Foiled again!!!

Yeah, it has been over a month since I last wrote a "weekly" Wrap. What can I say? Lazy, stupid, busy, or whatever, I'll try harder next time. Just like I promised the last time this blog slipped the schedule. ;-)

Anyways, we had fourteen posts in this period, with lots of Barbie doll photos, celebrating such diverse topics as St. Patrick's Day to the anniversary of The Birds. Indeed, our blonde plastic friend from Mattel has been the featured star of the last month. I don't know what I would have done without her.

However, I've stocked up on plenty of photos over the past month. So, as of this Wrap, I'm going full throttle on doing the "photo blog" thing. Although I'd rather provide significant writing to accompany the images, it is better to just have a picture than nothing at all.

We'll see how it goes.

Lawrence at night

So, here is the Wrap:

We celebrated three holidays. Barbie hosted St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The Kewpie dolls presented Rankin & Bass Easter cartoons. Finally, the odd music of Llyn Foulkes was accompanied by laughing dummies on April Fools.

Movies and music together comprised five posts. We celebrated the anniversaries of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and the original King Kong. For the month of March, we had our normal selection of songs from over the decades. Then, we celebrated the birth dates of Tartini and Bix Beiderbecke.

The Worm Moon and a trip to the beach were featured in snapshot style posts. Along the theme of phobias, we looked at photos featuring heights and darkness. And we had two Friday Flowers, camellias and Paschal White. Pretty stuff!!!

So, that's it for this Wrap. We'll do better next time. I know it. ;-)

Or maybe we'll head back to the beach for some more relaxation.

Enjoy!!!

2013 Weekly Wrap #5

Detail of Things Dragged, Not Said by Kukula

To celebrate my two years blogging here at Paideia, I took a few days off. It'll keep me energized and engaged, looking for things fun and new to share with you all. Alternatively, you could say that I've been a bit lazy. Either way works for me. ;-)

So, since our last Wrap, our posts have been primarily related to music and flowers. Well, there's nothing wrong with that, but I like this blog to have more of an eclectic feel, more ingredients in the mixture. I'll work on it. Moreover, I'm going to attempt to increase the posting rate, even if I have to rely on quickie "Photo of the Day" types. Yeah, I've said that before, on many occasions, but THIS time I really MEAN it!!!!!

Or not. We'll see how it goes. . .

Lawrence in front of a bookcase, looking to his left

So, here are our posts from the past few weeks:

We had three Music posts. Two birth dates were celebrated, for Nina Simone and Fats Domino. Then, we finished out the month of February with our Monthly Music Fest, enjoying various musical trends from over the past five decades.

Two posts featured Art. The first was a quickie showcasing an image of Frederick MacMonnies' Diana, part of the Huntington collection. Then, we looked at a few photographs from my gallery-hopping expedition to Culver City and Bergamot Station. Good stuff!!!

Flora was prominent in this cycle, being featured in three posts. We enjoyed a stroll through the prickly trails of a Desert garden. Then, we had two Friday Flowers, with magnolias and echeveria.

Then, we hit Paideia's 2nd Blogiversary, which was celebrated in a subdued but satisfied manner. I promise more fireworks for our 3rd year. ;-P

And our selections were rounded out by celebrating Tootsie Rolls and laughing over some eye-catching "Soup of the Day" signage. It was a fun time.

Anyways, that's how it's been. I'm looking forward to sharing some more exciting images and entertaining stories with you all in the next cycle. So, stick around and see how things turn out!!!

How many licks does it take. . .

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!!!

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!!!

2013 Weekly Wrap #2

Detail of Lost & Found by Eric Joyner, part of the Corey Helford Gallery's exhibit, Crucifixion

Yes, we have a flexible definition of "weekly" here at Paideia. Let's assign it a value of ten days plus or minus two. Therefore, a year at this blog will have approximately thirty-six "weeks." ;-)

I was hoping for a better production rate, but circumstances interfered. However, seeing as how I visited some galleries this weekend, my rate over the next "week" ought to be much improved. Moreover, I'm really getting into the whole photography blogging.

Of course, things within my personal life have ways of trumping all my blogging intentions. To be honest, things are a bit tough right now. Yet, writing these posts is a welcome way to take my mind off of the troubles of my daily life, a mental escape in which my whimsy can take flight. Unless I'm really too drained to write, it's fun to get away from the quotidian woes.

I hope my blogging gives you, my dear readers, a pleasant diversion as well.

Lawrence at the library, again

So, here's the Wrap:

We had a couple Friday Flowers, with a return to our old tradition of including poetry. First, we showcased a selection of beauties from the South Coast Botanic Garden, along with a poem from Emily Dickinson. Then we put the spotlight on some lovely roses, paired to a Shakespeare sonnet.

Regarding Art, there were two posts. First, we celebrated minimalism and the works of Tony Smith. Second, we reviewed the Corey Helford Gallery's exhibit, Crucifixion, which we thoroughly enjoyed. You can't beat Pink Ice Cream cones, robots, and Wicker Man sacrifices. ;-)

For Music, we had two posts, birth date celebrations. We listened to some Foo Fighters on Dave Grohl's birthday. Then, we enjoyed the sultry sophistication of Eartha Kitt on her birth date. It was purrfect!!!

Our one view of Cinema was another entry into the Hall of Shame, to which we consigned Leprechaun from 1993; just give him the gold so we can put an end to these horrible movies!!!! Then we looked at some Toys, various collectibles from the local retailer, Pop Monster, featuring some Tokidoki Unicornos and Kidrobot Dunnies. Good stuff!!!

And then we had three posts that primarily featured my photography. One was all about taking pictures of the sun, green retinal burns and all. Then we looked at some random photos while enjoying a few renaissance musical pieces. Finally, I demonstrated my love for vanishing points and linear perspective.

All in all, it was a fun batch of posts. I'm looking forward to next "week" and the diverse topics that we will be able to explore.

"A friend with weed is a friend indeed."

Enjoy!!!

2013 Weekly Wrap #1

The elephant-headed Ganesh, among the Norton Simon Museum's collection of Hindu bronzes

We're done with "Week #1" and here's the Wrap, just like in the good old days. It's been a long time since we've put up one of these, but it's been a long, long time since we've had sufficient posts to justify one. After all, why put in these "real time" indices, when looking at a month or more of material is as easy as scrolling down the page?

Well, at least for the first ten days of this year, we have enough material to make it worthwhile. And that's reason to celebrate!!! Woo hoo!!!

Now, I know that a bunch of my posts were on the "fluffy" side, but we did touch base on our usual weekly features. Art and music, history and mythology, flowers and toys, so many of these things that I adore made their appearance over the last eleven posts. Can it get better? Certainly, there is a whole lot of room for improvement, but the core interests of this blog were well represented. Though I hope make it even better, my assessment with the current state is highly positive.

Most importantly, I've been having fun!!!

Going back to basics, the Wrap will feature a photo of me again. ;-)

So here's the Weekly Wrap.

Our posts were a bit mixed in subject matter. For instance, there was plenty of art, music and literature, but they were combined together into hybrid posts. That's what creates that "fluffy" feel that I mentioned above. But we did have a few distinct features.

Friday Flowers featured some phalaenopsis orchids from my household collection. Silly Saturday showcased the wonderfully entertaining Loteria exhibit at the Museum of Latin American Art. On Spooky Sunday, we took a look into Hell as part of our celebration of Gustave Dore's birth date.

Regarding music, we celebrated Tolkein's birth date by listening to music inspired by his works. The holiday season came to a triple-royal finale on Epiphany. The birth date of Al Bowlly, a crooner from the early decades of the 20th century, was the occasion to appreciate some old-time singing. Then, we had a whimsy post featuring music inspired by ancient Egypt, along with a cute mummy doll. ;-)

We opened the year featuring the image of and music to the elephant-headed god, Ganesh, Lord of Obstacles. Then I set out a "meta" post that discussed my intentions and resolutions for this year, 2013. Finally, we had a couple pure "whimsy" posts showing a stop sign and a Budweiser delivery truck.

Fun stuff!!!

"Come and play with us, Danny. Forever. . . and ever. . . and ever."

Enjoy!!!

2012 Weekly Wrap #15

Image from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998): "This is bat country."

I confess. I've been a slacker. ;-)

Ideally, this Wrap would have gone out on Friday. It didn't. But I feel like the posts have been engaging and fun. From ballerinas to arrogant bastards, from Bat Country to Turkish harems, we've covered a wide array of topics.

As always, I'm hoping to improve the pace of posting back to at least a "one per day" average. But I'm not going to stress it. I plan to be blogging for the long haul and I'm going to do it at a comfortable and sustainable pace. If I have the time, energy, and inspiration to get back into a rapid production mode, then that's how we'll go. For right now, two posts in three days isn't bad.

So, before I start experiencing bad waves of paranoia, madness, fear and loathing, intolerable vibrations, let's get to the Wrap.

Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass at LACMA

With eleven posts in eighteen days, here's the breakdown:

We had three Art posts. A visit to LACMA allowed me to get my first view of Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass as a completed installation. In a hybrid post, we looked at some examples of "old school" orientalism in art and music. Then, we celebrated the birth date of Edgar Degas with some photos of his works in local collections.

For Music, we had three posts. Inspired by the Oh Nancy show at the Torrance Art Museum, we listened to some songs on the topics of Easy Bake Ovens and light bulbs. Then, coming across a mannequin of Elvis at a local shopping center, we enjoyed some classic Elvis songs from 1957. Finally, in celebration of George Clinton's birthday, we had a funky time and tore the roof off the sucker. Can you dig it?

One post went to Friday Flowers, featuring sunflowers. Another post went to literature, celebrating the birth date of Hunter S. Thompson. And one post went to advertisements, looking at the images on the side of beer delivery trucks.

Finally, two posts were at about personal interests. I expressed my growing interest in landscape photography. Then I recollected old times at the Del Amo mall in Torrance.

And that's the "week" that was.

Elvis has left the building.



Enjoy!!!

2012 Weekly Wrap #14

Image from the title sequence of the James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Well, I was hoping for a better rate of productivity, but my life has been busy over the past few weeks. It's been pretty good actually. So, I can't get too disgruntled by missing my blogging targets. ;-)

Anyways, I've been having fun with the various topics, even if I'd like a better pace. Let's face it; the old rate of two posts per day are long gone. If I can put up five entries per week, I'll be content. Certainly, I can inflate that number with "Image of the Day" and other such "tagger" posts, but I feel better providing more content.

Maybe I'll try out more quickie posts. It seems to be conventional wisdom that short-form blogging is more popular. On the other hand, I'm not writing Paideia to become "popular" or build a large following. I'm blogging because I want to share my thoughts and experiences in a public venue, in a manner that is both fun and comfortable.

We'll see. . .

Detail of Image Peddler with Female Shopper (2011) by Gerit Grimm


Anyways, here are the eleven posts since our last Wrap:

As regards Art blogging, we had three posts. First, we zipped across Los Angeles visiting a few museums and many galleries, checking out numerous interesting sights. Then I reviewed the excellent show of Dale Johnson's work at dnj Gallery, "By the Sea". Finally, we took a look at Gerit Grimm's exhibit of ceramic figures at the Long Beach Museum of Art.

We also had three Music posts. Two were birth date celebrations. The first was for the opera composer, Alfredo Catalani. Next, we wished a Happy Birthday to Carly Simon. Then, we looked at some empty classrooms and gothed out to some Darkwave vibes. ;-)

Our single Pop Culture post was in honor of that feline funny page legend, Garfield!!! Now, I'm in the mood for some lasagna.

Our Friday Flowers were again without poetry, but the silent roses need no words to enhance their charm. We also celebrated the arrival of Summer and the Full Thunder Moon.

Finally, I celebrated Post 600 with a bit of navel-gazing.

Over at Madrona Musings, we discussed the Colloquy panels in which various topics of relevance to the Los Angeles art scene are considered. Then we turned our attention to the two day Oh Nancy show, "Blank Land". First, We discussed the project's narrative premise. Then, we shared some photos from the Opening Night. Good times!!!

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully, we can get more productivity and quality over the next few weeks.

Cover image from Garfield Says a Mouthful

Enjoy!!!

2012 Weekly Wrap #13

Detail of Blue Drift (2012) by Sylvia Ji, on exhibit at the Corey Helford Gallery

We've finally hit lucky Number 13!!!

Well, eleven posts in thirteen days isn't a model of productivity, but it's an improvement. Moreover, I'm fairly satisfied with the quality of these posts. They weren't just "Image of the Day" tag hits. This set had some substance, some style, some classic Paideia considerations.

We hit a nice blend of topics, including a gallery visit and an advertisement critique. I do regret that I wasn't able to put some poetry into the Friday Flowers posts, but I'm happy that we actually had flowers for both Fridays. ;-)

In short, I'm happy. And this positive mood gives me the energy to put a little bit more creativity and personality into my writing. I hope you all have enjoyed reading this most recent batch of posts as much as I have in writing them.

Detail from the cover image of Scooby Doo! #114, "Turkey Terror at 2000 ft."; pencils by Robert Pope

And here are our eleven posts:

We had four art related posts. We "celebrated" the birthday of Damien Hirst. A visit to the Getty Center inspired me to muse upon the everchanging way in which one perceives art. I checked out "Motion: The Art of Movement" on exhibit at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City. Finally, the annual Muse Artwalk at LACMA provided the opportunity to enjoy some dancing, music, and performance art.

In music, we had three posts. We celebrated two birth dates, Nancy Sinatra and Richard Strauss. Then, our Monthly Dance Party highlighted the weekend.

There were two Friday Flowers, featuring a rose, Walking on Sunshine, and Snow-in-Summer, appropriately named flowers given the current weather conditions we're having out here in Los Angeles. Then we enjoyed giving 'em the bird in a criticism of Wild Turkey bourbon advertisements. Finally, I expressed my love for architectural designs that incorporate stripes, especially those caused by the play of shadow and light.

Over at Madrona Musings, it's been slow now that our exhibit "Between the Knowing" has closed down. However, I did put up a "spotlight" post for our most recent lobby sculpture, Michelle Carla Handel's Big Yearn, Let Down. It's a fun work.

Well, that's it for now. I'm looking forward to the next set of posts.

Image from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Enjoy!!!

2012 Weekly Wrap #12

Image of Arnold Schwarzenegger from Conan the Barbarian (1982)

First off, I'm sorry for the recent lack of posts. Life has been full of twists and turns recently, some very excellent and some not so much. I blog mainly for the fun of writing about oddball topics and to bring back to mind the various subjects that have brought me entertainment or insight over the decades of my life. But, recently, my mind has been occupied with other matters, more pressing and immediate, such that I just have not had either the time or the energy to blog.

It's a bummer, but that's life. There have been many topics that I would have like to discuss and celebrate. Well, there's always next year. ;-)

I know this is starting to sound like a broken record, but I really think that I'm on the rebound. Some recent elements in my life have taken a dramatic turn for the better. So, I'm thinking that with a more positive attitude, I'll find the time and energy to have some fun here at Paideia.

As always, I'm grateful to my readers.

Now, let's look at the last "week" of posts.

Detail of a promotion image for Curious George (2006)

Recent posts have been so haphazard that I can't really do my normal art/music/cinema/etc. divisions. So, I'll just list them in chronological order.

We celebrated the 30th anniversary since the release of Conan the Barbarian, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Then I shared a photo of some power lines paired with music from '80s synthpop band, Information Society. Next, inspired by the birth date of Margret Rey, we considered Curious George.

Friday Flowers were Jacaranda. Then, I moped about the pitiful state of my blogging, and shared some music from Concrete Blonde, Enya, and Foo Fighters to ease the angst. ;-)

A trip to the Huntington Museum revealed to me the Shield of Achilles. And, then, the 25th anniversary of the release of The Cure's Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me made for a pleasant reminiscence. A mirrored mannequin face and some Los Lobos rounded things out over a busy weekend.

We celebrated Memorial Day. While driving, I saw an image of Alfred E. Neuman up on the side of a building. Finally, when visiting Bergamot Station, a new image of Daphne Blake in her underclothes was on display.

Eleven posts in nearly a month. That's not good, but it'll get better.

Detail of Mad #94 (1965) with Alfred E. Neuman as King Kong.

Enjoy!!!

2012 Weekly Wrap #11

Detail of She Wore a Black Bustier (1983) by Patrick Nagel

Well, this cycle was heavy on the music and 1980s flashbacks, but it was a fun set of posts. I definitely need to get more Art posts back into the mix. Hopefully, we'll check out a couple galleries and museums this upcoming week.

I feel a bit guilty that I didn't hit my requisite eleven posts earlier. I took off a few days out of general laziness. Oh well, we're still hitting a good pace for May. ;-)

Morticia Addams and the kids, Pugsley and Wednesday

Here's a run down of our posts:

Only two Art posts were part of this cycle. First, we looked at Goya's Third of May 1808 and considered the evils of warfare. Second, we visited the Bowers Museum and enjoyed the "Spirits and Headhunters: Art of the Pacific Islands" exhibit. Good stuff!!!

As regards Music posts, we wrote up five! Two were thirty year celebrations for albums released in 1982, the Cure's Pornography and Duran Duran's Rio. Then we celebrated the birthday of Surf Rock legend, Dick Dale. Turning to classical music, we enjoyed some works by Johannes Brahms in commemoration of his birth date. Finally, we did an early posting of our Monthly Dance Party.

Friday Flowers brought us some French Lace roses and poetry by William Shakespeare. Our "Cinema and Television" post featured Yosemite Sam, the meanest, roughest, toughest hombre. . . Umm, on a personal note, I was beguiled by a beautiful vision of my local urban environment, transformed into light and shadow by a mid-Spring twilight. Finally, we expressed our appreciation for Moms with some quirky photos and vids. ;-)

It was a good time, but let's try for even better times in the upcoming weeks.

Hare Trigger (1945): "Now, you lop-eared polecat, try and get out of this one!"

Enjoy!!!

2012 Weekly Wrap #10

Carl's Jr. commercial for the Southwest Patty Melt featuring Kate Upton. Why not?

A new month, a new sense of fun and excitement. Yeah, I'm finally feeling like I might be back on my game, blogging with ease and enthusiasm. I don't know what the malaise has been that has ground me down over the past five months, but I'm very happy to feel it going away.

But, while the spirit is willing, is the body weak? I don't know, but we'll see if post count and variety returns to the level of quality that I desire. There are plenty of topics that I love to discuss. From the fine arts to astronomy, advertising to ethics, whether the subject, there's something interesting to consider. I'm looking forward to sharing my passions and whimsy with you all.

That's enough about me. Let's look at the eleven posts since our last "Weekly" Wrap.

Play the carnival game. Win a banana doll.

We had three Music posts. First, a new month had come. .  so we celebrated our April Dance Party. Then the birth date of Duke Ellington allowed us to enjoy some of the classic performances of the early Jazz era. Finally, we had a whimsical post about dishes, stacking and washing and breakin' and, hmm, innuendo. ;-)

Garden lovers got to enjoy two posts. Our Friday Flowers featured Marguerite daisies and the poetry of Alice Notley. Then, we took a trip to the Huntington to check out the newly reopened Japanese Garden. Lovely!!!

Then we touched bases on a wide variety of our favorite subjects: advertising, art, automobiles, and cinema. First, we were amused by the conjunction of a billboard promoting condom usage next to a Carl's Jr. restaurant, which brought to mind all of those "spicy" ads for which the Happy Star is infamous. Then we went gallery hopping in the Culver City art district, viewing "Pink Cherries", female personifications of cities and a "Murder" of crows. Later, we celebrated the birth date of Nicola Romeo by visiting the Alfa Romeos in the Petersen's newest exhibit "Sculpture in Motion". And, finally, we took a moment to enjoy some vids from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery in celebration of its fifteen year anniversary.

As regards my personal activities, there were two posts. First, I griped about my inability to write at the pace and eloquence that I desire; a type of post that I call "Misery Loves Company". Then I took a trip to the local Springfest carnival and took a few photos of the rides and games.

Over at Madrona Musings, we took another look at Adam Bateman's As the Rose, but this time is was at night!!! For Arbor Day, we took a look at the young California Sycamore tree that is growing right outside the museum, part of Joel Tauber's Sick-Amour project. Interesting stuff!!!

And that's it for the "week". I hope you all had fun.

Detail of Resurrection of the Flesh by Buff Monster

Enjoy!!!

2012 Weekly Wrap #9

Detail of The Swing (1767) by Jean-Honore Fragonard


Well, it's been a rough week. I would have liked to get a few posts up over the past few days, but distractions piled up, keeping me from hanging out with you all. For instance, this post ought to have been finished up on Tuesday morning. . . I guess it's better late than never. ;-)

Overall, I'm happy with Paideia, but I have a vague anxiousness that there needs to be a change. I keep on intending to start "quickie" posts, maybe a photo, a few sentences, and a vid or two after the jump. Perhaps, I'll start adding those to the rotation. It'll keep the front page fresh and dynamic.

I've also put an end to two Friday Flowers in a single "weekly" Wrap period. It just bugs me when that happens, an annoying pet peeve. Since I'm having a hard time keeping these Wraps on a weekly schedule, I'll have to drop the flowers. Yeah, it's a bummer, but maybe it'll provide incentive to improve my post count.

Anyways, let's look at our twelve posts of the "Weekly" Wrap.

Detail from the cover image of Ray Anthony's Bunny Hop (1952)

Four Art posts were featured. We celebrated the birth dates of the Rococo master, Jean-Honore Fragonard, and two of the High Renaissance giants, Leonardo and Rapheal. Then we offered up a brief look at my Saturday visiting Bergamot Station and the Torrance Art Museum.

Music was showcased in three posts. First, we celebrated Easter with the Bunny Hop. Then, a whimsy post about pirates featured some early music from the Age of Exploration. Finally, we celebrated the birth date of Dusty Springfield. Good stuff!!!

As regards Cinema, we had three related posts. The birth date of Bette Davis was a mandatory celebration here at Paideia. Then we looked on in horror upon a video that showed the awful aging of Lindsay Lohan; very sad. Finally, we went light-hearted with considerations upon the old-fashioned buffoonery of classic episodes of the Three Stooges. Nyuck, nyuck, nuck.

Our Friday Flowers featured African Daisies and the works of Samuel Beckett. Finally, I shared photos of the Blessing of the Animals over at Olvera Street.

At Madrona Musings, it was a busy time with the new exhibition opening in Torrance. We considered the works of Samuel Beckett with a video of Rick Cluchey. We announced the opening of the "Two-Headed Monster" exhibit in Gallery 2. We gave a Sneak Peek of "Between the Knowing" and, then, photos from the Opening Night. It's been fun times at the TAM.

In any case, here's to another exciting week.

Image of the Three Stooges from Disorder in the Court (1936)

Enjoy!!!

2012 Weekly Wrap #8

Scooby Doo and Shaggy running from the Headless Horseman on a lunchbox from 1973


Well, we haven't been prolific, but we sure as heck have celebrated a wide variety of topics. To a degree, that is because of the calendar. Because we love doing the birth date celebrations, it determines the topic of the day, from cool jazz to folk lore ghost stories. ;-)

Nevertheless, it's been fun times. And it's been consistent. I always feel bad when I leave you all hanging, waiting for the daily post. Yeah, I know that I don't have a bunch of followers. Most of my readers come through searches, looking for info from a post nearly a year old. But I still feel an obligation to those few readers that check out my random and crazy posts each day. There may only be a dozen or so, but I appreciate the readership and hope to provide something each day, even if only a whimsy post.

Well, let's get to the Wrap.

Saint Teresa of Avila by Carole Odell for the Paulist Press series, Classics of Western Spirituality.

Our eleven posts were spread out nicely.

We had two overt art posts. First, we discussed Micheal Krebs' "Surplus" series on view at dnj Gallery. Then we took a trip to the Hammer Museum to see the exhibit of Alina Szapocznikow's sculpture.

In music, we had three posts. We celebrated the birth date of Sarah Vaughan, Astrud Gilberto, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. That's quite the mix of styles. It'll either make you say "aah" or send you across the River Styx. ;-)

I don't do many religion posts, but, for the birth date of Saint Teresa of Avila, I made an exception.

There were three flower/garden related posts in this "weekly" cycle. We anticipated the opening of the Japanese Garden at the Huntington Botanical Gardens. We visited a Bonsai show. Then we mourned the passing of the fantastic feminist poet, Adrienne Rich, with a look at some gorgeous clivias.

Finally, we dipped into some Disney animation. The Little Mermaid and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow were both featured as celebrations for Hans Christian Andersen and Washington Irving, respectively.

Over at Madrona Musings, we had two posts. The first announced the upcoming exhibition, "Between the Knowing", which is an examination of existentialist themes and aesthetics. In keeping with this premise, we looked at the Myth of Sisyphus and a vid by Sara Ramo.

Lots of good stuff. Looking forward to next week.

Telly and Grover are "Waiting for Elmo" on Monsterpiece Theater.

Enjoy!!!

2012 Weekly Wrap #7

Detail of Dandelions (1867) by Jean-Francois Millet

While I would have like to have put this post up on Friday, circumstances prevented it. And my Friday Flowers, a weekly feature which I haven't skipped for ages!!!

Well, it's better late than never. So, here's our "Weekly" Wrap.

It was actually a decent week, with solid productivity and a nice variety of posts. I'd have liked to get more art and gallery stuff up. But I'm happy with the three that I posted. We had a couple "whimsy" articles, but, so long as we keep up the quality and reliability of our normal type of blogging, there's nothing wrong with that.

Anyways, I'm open to suggestions. If there is something you want to see here at Paideia or some topic you want me to elaborate upon, then feel free to leave a comment. Although I'm writing primarily for my own pleasure, if I can entertain you all as well, then I'm open to requests. ;-)

Detail of The Wizard Has No Friends by Dirty Donny Gillies

So, let's look at our posts:

There were three Art posts. Our only gallery visit was to Dirty Donny Gillies' "Vantastic Voyage" at CoproGallery. We then had two featuring LACMA topics. First, I expressed my support for Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass, a monumental work featuring a 340-ton boulder which was transported across the Los Angeles area to great media attention. Second, we took a look at the awesome Surrealism exhibit "In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States". Good stuff!!!

In Music, we had four posts. Two were birthday celebrations, Johann Sebastian Bach and Nat King Cole. That's quite the contrast in musical style. Then, we had a "whimsy" post regarding dandelions, inspired by a photograph that I snapped while walking past a field. Finally, we had our monthly dance party with nine fun songs, ranging in musical performers from the Beatles to Abba to Neil Young. "I want to live. I want to give." ;-)

As mentioned above, we missed our last Friday Flowers, but, since this "Weekly" Wrap had two Fridays, we still had some Spring variety to usher in the new season.

Additionally, we had our seasonal Mucha-admiring post for Spring with appropriate art and music. Moreover, we had a couple St. Patrick's Day posts. First, we looked at some ads for Jameson Irish Whiskey. Then we looked at the empty bottle aftermath. Urg. . .

Over at Madrona Musings, the posting has been sparse, given that there is no exhibit currently on view at the Torrance Art Museum. However, I did take a couple photos of a work that will be on display when the museum reopens, Adam Bateman's As the Rose. It's mighty cool.

And that's all for this Wrap. I hope you've had a great time. Looking forward to the upcoming week and all the fun that we'll consider.

Lucky Charms advertisement form 1965

Enjoy!!!