The fog comes in / on art surfer feet /It sits looking / over harbor and city / on silent haunches / and then moves on. -Carl Sandburg
*Comics: Archie comics published their 500th issue this year. The Riverdale teen started in 1941 in another comic, Pep Comics, then a year later he got his own series. Musea says, Betty and Veronica are curvy and cool!
*Fashion quote: On building a wardrobe from creative director of Barneys NYC, Simon Doonan, "Start from the premise that nobody is going to care what you look like. Therfore the only person you have to entertain is yourself. This will give you a healthy disregard for the opinions of others and allow you to make mistakes, and you'll start to have fun with it." (In Style)
*City planning: On smog alert days, bus rides in Allentown, PA are free. The city is doing this to cut down on pollution. We salute and say go one further. DART give free bus rides 365 days a year! Cut smog, reduce traffic, and give some support to the poorest in Dallas (Also give us some neighborhood buses.) (AP)
*Painting: Raphael may have proposed and not lived to marry. Restoration of The Baker Girl reveals a ring on the wedding finger of the baker's daughter, Margherita Luti, that Raphael then painted over. It was discovered when restorers X-rayed the painting. Raphael died before the portrait was finished. (AP)
*We remember these artists: Howard W. Koch, director of The Manchurian Candidate, and the TV series Maverick // matinee idol Troy Donahue // Howard Stern regular, Hank the Angry Dwarf // Short story writer Eudora Welty // punk musician, Joey Ramone // surrealist, known for his paintings of young girls, Balthus // film critic Pauline Kael // songwriter of Mona Lisa, Buttons and Bows, Que Sera Sera, etc. Jay Livingston // folk artist of 'sermons in paint' Rev. Howard Finster // violinist Isaac Stern // political cartoonist Herblock. We salute them all.
*Museums: The Altamira Museum opened in July of this year in Santillana Del Mar, Spain. It contains a 'neo-cave" that is a faithful reproduction of the authentic Altamira Cave with its masterful 18,000 year old cave-man paintings. The museum was built to protect the original. It uses the same materials and techniques. (AP) // The Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, has finished its massive renovations and is now open. There is much more display space Ex. 4,000 sq. ft. for their photo collection, which is one of the best in the country. // And for fans of movie beauty Ava Gardner, there is The Ava Gardner Museum opened in Smithfield N.C. It has been called the nation's largest collection of memorabilia for an individual movie star. My favorite film of hers was One Touch of Venus where she is a Greek Statue come to life. We salute all 3 museums.
*Chump of the Month: Concert promoters are in a slump and have been all summer and Musea thinks it couldn't happen to better guys. Besides the problem of the same old dinosaurs touring, there is the even more outrageous average ticket costs. Average price of a concert ticket for the top 50 touring acts was $46.69 with Madonna, U2, Janet Jackson, & Rod Steward, charging much more. We need new performers and reasonable ticket prices. Until we get them - the concert promoters are our chump of the month.
*New Oldest City: Scientists have unearthed the oldest known city in the Americas. Caral, lies 120 miles north of Lima, Peru and 12 miles from the Pacific. The city had inhabitants from 2627 B.C on. That is the same time Egyptian slaves were building the Great Pyramids and 1,500 years before scientists thought urban civilization began in the New World. Some suggest Caral is the birthplace of New World civilization. The site contains six pyramids in the center of the city. (Newsweek)
*Happy New Year. Musea hopes your holidays are splendid, we hope to see you next year, and in parting this final year-end thought, "When creative people are given an opportunity, it's like the desert getting rain" - Art S Revolutionary.