Thursday, February 28, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Currenlty listening to...
... "New Day" by The Present Moment. I love me some synth-pop and this recent band from L.A. honors the legacy of Depeche Mode.
http://thepresentmoment.bandcamp.com/
And here is the inspiration:
http://thepresentmoment.bandcamp.com/
And here is the inspiration:
The Present Moment
“We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between an all-powerfully causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality. We confuse the world as talked about, described, and measured with the world which actually is. We are sick with a fascination for the useful tools of names and numbers, of symbols, signs, conceptions and ideas.”
--Alan Watts
http://alanwatts.com/
--Alan Watts
http://alanwatts.com/
Friday, February 22, 2013
BEAUTY: Installation--Thilo Frank
The Phoenix is closer than it appears is an interactive installation by German artist Thilo Frank. The only thing in this small room lined with mirrors on every surface, aside from some green lights, is a swing...
Installation view shown at the Museum of Modern Art, in Aalborg, Denmark.
http://www.thilofrank.net
Installation view shown at the Museum of Modern Art, in Aalborg, Denmark.
http://www.thilofrank.net
The Evolution of Love by The Irrepressibles
"New World," "Arrow," and "Two Men In Love" by The Irrepressibles, from "Nude."
It's the last song that slays me...turn it up...
http://www.theirrepressibles.com
Happy Birthday, Edward Gorey!
Today marks the 88th birthday of artist, illustrator and author Edward Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000). This largely self-taught artist left behind a delightful, remarkable, and wholly unique body of work upon his death. Most of his works are set in the Victorian and Edwardian era, with a very dark sense of humor and a twist of morbidity. His fascinating and skillful pen-and-ink works inspired generations and spawned the opening credits of the PBS series "Mystery!" as well as the absolutely gorgeous music video for Nine Inch Nails' song "The Perfect Drug" directed by Mark Romanek in 1997 (previously here).
I saw a wonderful exhibit of Gorey's work at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco in 1993. The museum had a limited supply of signed books and museum catalogs by Gorey, which I snapped up!
And here is the man himself, in one of his many beloved fur coats (he stopped wearing fur altogether, rightly calling it "cruelty to animals"), and with a few of his many, many cats.
And for fun, here is the PBS "Mystery!" opening credits...
Happy Birthday, Mr. Gorey!
His home on Cape Cod is now a museum whose profits go toward protecting animals, particularly dogs, cats, bats, and insects.
http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/
I saw a wonderful exhibit of Gorey's work at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco in 1993. The museum had a limited supply of signed books and museum catalogs by Gorey, which I snapped up!
And here is the man himself, in one of his many beloved fur coats (he stopped wearing fur altogether, rightly calling it "cruelty to animals"), and with a few of his many, many cats.
And for fun, here is the PBS "Mystery!" opening credits...
Happy Birthday, Mr. Gorey!
His home on Cape Cod is now a museum whose profits go toward protecting animals, particularly dogs, cats, bats, and insects.
http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/
Friday, February 15, 2013
Welcome, Robbie!
Another professional athlete has come out... and we have another hero.
U.S. soccer star Robbie Rogers today made two simultaneous announcements: he is gay, and he is retiring from football. Rogers played several seasons for Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew before joining Britain's Leeds United team last year. In 2007 he played for Team USA in the FIFA World Cup tournament, and he competed for the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Whatever you do now Robbie, we wish you continued success.
Read his inspiring statement on his website:
http://www.therobbierogers.com
Oh, hello there, 2012 DA14!
We (and by we, I mean the planet) did not even know of the existence of this asteroid until February 23, 2012 and now here we are being so intimate so quickly!
Today, February 15, 2013, the asteroid 2012 DA14 is passing us quite closely...a mere 17,200 miles from the surface of Earth which is a record close approach for a known object of this size. This is closer than satellites in geosynchronous orbit!
NASA is tracking the trajectory of 2012 DA14. Watch it live here:
http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2
http://www.nasa.gov/
Today, February 15, 2013, the asteroid 2012 DA14 is passing us quite closely...a mere 17,200 miles from the surface of Earth which is a record close approach for a known object of this size. This is closer than satellites in geosynchronous orbit!
Images from NASA/JPL
NASA is tracking the trajectory of 2012 DA14. Watch it live here:
http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2
http://www.nasa.gov/
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Just finished reading...
...COLD DAYS, the fourteenth book in the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.
I devoured half this book on the plane to France and finished it off the first week I was there. I was going to write that the Dresden Files books are a guilty pleasure of mine, but when I stop to think about that turn of phrase, I simply don't feel guilty. I like them. Jim Butcher has created a total world with a stunning variety of creatures, animals, people, places, and history that are all based on or around ideas of "magic." For those unfamiliar, Harry Dresden is a Private Investigator and modern day wizard in Chicago, and across fourteen books, we have discovered monsters, vampires, fairies, ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and other supernatural beings, in a sort of hybrid of Sam Spade and "The X-Files." Lest this sound a tad too Dungeons and Dragons/ role play for some, Butcher has a wonderful way of presenting these stories rooted in reality. He makes everything seem so utterly possible and believable... and I will tell you that I am not a D&D fan.
This newest installation in the series, COLD DAYS, is just as fast, fun, entertaining, suspenseful, funny, and wildly imaginative as the thirteen that came before it. Jim Butcher is one of those writers who knows exactly how to end a chapter so that you can't wait to start the next one... which leads to many late nights ("Oh, I'll just read one more chapter, then go to bed..." and this is of course followed by, "Well, just this one more, this will be the last one..."). It is pointless for me to try to provide even a summary of the plot so I will simply say two things.
1) To those who are fans of the Dresden Files, dive right in, you'll love it.
2) To those who have not read the Dresden Files, gather together the first ten or so books... they make excellent summer reading. Ready, set, go!
Recommend? You betcha.
http://www.jim-butcher.com/
I devoured half this book on the plane to France and finished it off the first week I was there. I was going to write that the Dresden Files books are a guilty pleasure of mine, but when I stop to think about that turn of phrase, I simply don't feel guilty. I like them. Jim Butcher has created a total world with a stunning variety of creatures, animals, people, places, and history that are all based on or around ideas of "magic." For those unfamiliar, Harry Dresden is a Private Investigator and modern day wizard in Chicago, and across fourteen books, we have discovered monsters, vampires, fairies, ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and other supernatural beings, in a sort of hybrid of Sam Spade and "The X-Files." Lest this sound a tad too Dungeons and Dragons/ role play for some, Butcher has a wonderful way of presenting these stories rooted in reality. He makes everything seem so utterly possible and believable... and I will tell you that I am not a D&D fan.
This newest installation in the series, COLD DAYS, is just as fast, fun, entertaining, suspenseful, funny, and wildly imaginative as the thirteen that came before it. Jim Butcher is one of those writers who knows exactly how to end a chapter so that you can't wait to start the next one... which leads to many late nights ("Oh, I'll just read one more chapter, then go to bed..." and this is of course followed by, "Well, just this one more, this will be the last one..."). It is pointless for me to try to provide even a summary of the plot so I will simply say two things.
1) To those who are fans of the Dresden Files, dive right in, you'll love it.
2) To those who have not read the Dresden Files, gather together the first ten or so books... they make excellent summer reading. Ready, set, go!
Recommend? You betcha.
http://www.jim-butcher.com/
"Sun In An Empty Room"
My first full day in Paris was the last day of the held-over Edward Hopper exhibit at the Grand Palais. Apparently, this was the hottest ticket in town, much like the Marie Antoinette exhibit I saw at the Grand Palais the last time I was in Paris. But unlike La Reine, this Hopper show broke attendance records for the Grand Palais. The show was extended and on the last day, the museum was literally open 24 hours, admitting people 'round the clock. So we got up before dawn, grabbed a quick croissant, and headed over to the museum. It was ironic that we came to France to see an exhibit of one of the greatest American painters. And it is also ironic that an American artist broke attendance records for a museum in Paris!
I had seen a very comprehensive Hopper retrospective at MOMA in San Francisco in the 80s, but this was a nice opportunity to revisit some art that I love... and my husband had never seen any Hoppers in person. So we braved the cold (29 degrees, thank you very much) for two hours until we finally got in. The show itself had a clever start. Hopper's early works were positioned in galleries against other works of art of the time, and works by other artists he admired or studied from, particularly here in Paris. But the rest of the show, I must say, was organized a bit oddly. Instead of seeing Hopper's work chronologically, in order to trace the progression of his skill and vision, the paintings were thrown together despite their year of creation. If this technique had been used to highlight thematic motifs or something of that nature, I would have understood. But it struck me as totally random. Mais c'etait pas grave, as the French say. It was still wonderful to see these paintings, many of them feeling like old friends (House By The Railroad, Rooms By The Sea, Automat, and of course, Nighthawks), up close.
But there was one painting that I had somehow missed in my art history classes, and my own exploration of Hopper. Painted three years before his death, Sun In An Empty Room was the final image in the exhibition, but was not the last finished painting created by Hopper. The decision to close the show with this piece was absolutely spot on since it seems to embody Hopper's entire career. It is the distillation of everything he had worked for, and his entire visual vocabulary.
Sun In An Empty Room is a haunting painting, so full despite its emptiness. Hopper was 81 when he captured this image, a man at the end of his life. As with so many Hopper paintings, there is a dual emotional state going on: emptiness about to be filled, or a space that was filled and is now vacant. Considering Hopper's age, the vacant idea seems to be the most relative; the canvas seems to speak to the Buddhist idea of the vast "all" of the void. Like most of Hopper's work, the composition suggests the cinema or photography, framing what we see without a context. A room full of nothing but sunlight, a room full of memories and meaning, a room that will one day no longer exist. Transience. Ephemera.
I stood for many minutes in front of this spectacular piece of art, moved to tears by its poignancy, gentleness, and finality.
http://www.edwardhopper.net/index.jsp
I had seen a very comprehensive Hopper retrospective at MOMA in San Francisco in the 80s, but this was a nice opportunity to revisit some art that I love... and my husband had never seen any Hoppers in person. So we braved the cold (29 degrees, thank you very much) for two hours until we finally got in. The show itself had a clever start. Hopper's early works were positioned in galleries against other works of art of the time, and works by other artists he admired or studied from, particularly here in Paris. But the rest of the show, I must say, was organized a bit oddly. Instead of seeing Hopper's work chronologically, in order to trace the progression of his skill and vision, the paintings were thrown together despite their year of creation. If this technique had been used to highlight thematic motifs or something of that nature, I would have understood. But it struck me as totally random. Mais c'etait pas grave, as the French say. It was still wonderful to see these paintings, many of them feeling like old friends (House By The Railroad, Rooms By The Sea, Automat, and of course, Nighthawks), up close.
But there was one painting that I had somehow missed in my art history classes, and my own exploration of Hopper. Painted three years before his death, Sun In An Empty Room was the final image in the exhibition, but was not the last finished painting created by Hopper. The decision to close the show with this piece was absolutely spot on since it seems to embody Hopper's entire career. It is the distillation of everything he had worked for, and his entire visual vocabulary.
Sun In An Empty Room is a haunting painting, so full despite its emptiness. Hopper was 81 when he captured this image, a man at the end of his life. As with so many Hopper paintings, there is a dual emotional state going on: emptiness about to be filled, or a space that was filled and is now vacant. Considering Hopper's age, the vacant idea seems to be the most relative; the canvas seems to speak to the Buddhist idea of the vast "all" of the void. Like most of Hopper's work, the composition suggests the cinema or photography, framing what we see without a context. A room full of nothing but sunlight, a room full of memories and meaning, a room that will one day no longer exist. Transience. Ephemera.
I stood for many minutes in front of this spectacular piece of art, moved to tears by its poignancy, gentleness, and finality.
http://www.edwardhopper.net/index.jsp
Merci, Ã France
My trip to France was lovely. I am back home now, conquering jet-lag, and trying to step back into my daily life, but it is hard with so many good memories. I feel like I am still there, and in fact, my brain is still translating my thoughts into French.
Thanks to the extraordinary Sherry Page for her knowledge, enthusiasm, and grace. Staying at the gorgeous mas was wonderful, thanks to the Wilsons. Thanks also to Pierre Bertou, our truffle hunter Joel Gravier and his dog Zouzou, Chef Jeremie at le Jardin du Quai, Chef Julien Charvet, Guy Bremond, Chef Benjamin Bruno, Serge Ghoukassian, Pierre Jouvaud, Master Fromager Affineur Claudine Vigier, Chef Stéphane Jego, and Chef Samuel Cavagnis. A special thanks to Carol and Nicolas, and everyone in France who welcomed us into their ateliers, restaurants, stores, homes, and hearts. If any of my readers are planning a trip to France, click on the links above and visit some of these marvelous people and places.
All photos by JEF
(Since the last one went over so well, here is another photo of me, in Provence. Photo by JDG)
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Currently listening to...
...a live version of the gorgeous "Cycling Trivialities" by José González with The Göteborg String Theory.
I am back from France now, and I was on an exclusive José González kick the entire time I was there...
His music touches the deepest part of me. It is vital, meaningful, and poignant...and makes me weep.
Too blind to know your best
Hurrying through the forks without regrets
Different now, every step is like a mile
All the lights seem to flash and pass you by
So how's it gonna be
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
Don't know which way to turn
Every trifle becoming big concerns
All this time you were chasing dreams,
without knowing what you wanted them to mean
So how's it gonna be
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
So how's it gonna be
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
Who cares in a hundred years from now
All your small steps, all your shitty clouds
Who cares in a hundred years from now
Who'll remember all the players
Who'll remember all the clowns
So how's it gonna be
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
So what does this really mean
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
Cycling trivialities
Cycling trivialities
http://www.jose-gonzalez.com/
I am back from France now, and I was on an exclusive José González kick the entire time I was there...
His music touches the deepest part of me. It is vital, meaningful, and poignant...and makes me weep.
Too blind to know your best
Hurrying through the forks without regrets
Different now, every step is like a mile
All the lights seem to flash and pass you by
So how's it gonna be
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
Don't know which way to turn
Every trifle becoming big concerns
All this time you were chasing dreams,
without knowing what you wanted them to mean
So how's it gonna be
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
So how's it gonna be
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
Who cares in a hundred years from now
All your small steps, all your shitty clouds
Who cares in a hundred years from now
Who'll remember all the players
Who'll remember all the clowns
So how's it gonna be
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
So what does this really mean
When it all comes down you're cycling trivialities
Cycling trivialities
Cycling trivialities
http://www.jose-gonzalez.com/
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Gung Hay Fat Choy 2013!
Happy Chinese New Year!
This is the Year of the Snake. Analytical and graceful, the Snake Year promises to be prosperous and calm. Ah, wouldn't it be nice if...
Friday, February 8, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
