This issue of Musea features the best of the weekly e-mails that I send to my online readers. You join too.
#179. Dear E-mail Club, My big surprise is here now. I have a song on a sort of nationally released CD. Here's how it happened My theater is a part of the Landmark Chain of 53 theaters all over the country. They've been putting out promotional CD's that showcase a lot of movie music plus young acts from the major labels. Any patron can get a free copy by adding their name to the company e-mail mailing list - that tells all about upcoming movies. And they always feature one of the theaters on the front cover.
Matt Creed, one of the Inwood Mangers, suggested to the main office that it was time to feature our Theater on the cover. He got a friend of his to take photos of all parts of the theater, which included me playing in the box office. Matt also suggested I send in some of my recordings in the slim chance that one might be on the CD. The other companies have to pay thousands each to get their acts on the CD.
The boxes of CDs came to our theater yesterday, and not only is my photo along with Pet Dog Guitar, a part of the cover of the CD; about the size of a postage stamp) but also one of my recordings is ON the CD, Stories from 12 BY 12, my old, co-op record company AND my url is added too. This recording is a full band recording made before I started playing my Box Office concerts. As far as I know I am the only act in the 8 CD series that is an indy, had his fee waived, and was featured on the cover. I thank my company for all that. If you want to see and hear the CD go to www.filtermmm.com/landmarkmusic/ Filter is the company that puts the CD's together. OR You can go to any of our 53 theaters and join the e-mail club and get a free copy. For a listing of what towns they are in, etc. See www.landmarktheatres.com Or you can download my song from the 27 MP3's on our Musea website. In 39 years of making music, this is my biggest break by far.
#173. The terrorist alert color code isn't working for me. So I devised my own that makes more sense.
1. STEPPING IN WATER IN YOUR STOCKING FEET low danger.
2. BAD HAIR DAY some concern
3. WHITE SHOES AND WHITE BELT real danger possible
4. 4. FACE PAINTING FOR SPORTS EVENTS palpable threat to our country
5. POODLE SKIRTS invasion imminent! Duct tape freely!
#1 Contest Extra: [Answer's later]. Elvis was in a LOT of bad movies, but he was offered a lot of good ones. Name any or all of the movies from the list below that were offered to Elvis: 1. The Rainmaker (filmed with Burt Lancaster and Kate Hepburn; 2. The Defiant Ones - Stanley Kramer directed Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier; 3 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - the Tenn. Williams play with Paul Newman and Liz Taylor; 4. West Side Story - the musical remake of Romeo and Juliet; 5. The Girl Can't Help It - campy comedy starring Jane Mansfield and 6. A Star is Born - the version with Barbara Streisand.
#182. "Pres. Bush last week requested $75 billion for the war. assuming it's entirely paid by borrowing, the increase would add a mere 2% to the $3.5 trillion publicly held federal debt." Samuelson, Newsweek. Washington doesn't think that $75 billion is much, but I do. And I want to show you how just that much could probably end poverty in the US. $75 billion is 7,500 million dollars. Let's say that the war didn't happen and we had that to spend on the US. Let's say that it was evenly divided between the 50 states. That's 1.5 billion each.Let's say that the rules were these: you had to put the money into a bank or conservative trust fund, and that you could only spend the interest. [Also IF the capital is used for loans, it can only be loaned to people and businesses within that state. So automatically all the state businesses get a huge loan pool]
Now let's take a state - Kansas. It's about medium in size, and it's in the middle of the country. Let's say it just got a bank account with it's share = $1.5 billion. Let's say that it is getting 10% interest on that money. That's high, but bare with me. that means that each year the state gets 10% of 1.5 billion (1,500 million dollars) = $150 million. Now let's divide that interest by 12 to see how much money is coming to Kansas every MONTH in interest. To help us who are mathematically challenged - we'll reduce the money to $120 million per year and divide by 12. That equals $10 million dollars every month in INTEREST goes to the state of Kansas.
Now note because we haven't touched the capital, this monthly payment will never STOP coming in - month after month, year after year, decade after decade, etc. OK Kansas decides to pass the monthly money out to the cities - one at a time. January's money goes to Kansas City. (And they can use the money to help their citizens in any way they choose ). Feb. $10 million goes to the city of Topeka, Mar. goes to Wichita, April - Great Bend, May - Manhattan, June - Independence, July - Pittsburgh, August - Atchison, September - Selena and so forth. And this is only THE FIRST YEAR.
Imagine how small the town would be by the end of the 2nd year. And that crossroads or rural berg, would get $10 million. Now imagine the 3rd year, 4th year, and so on. The money could be used for statewide causes too. One month education. The next, roads, the next, state debt, the next, health care, etc. etc. etc.
Of course this wouldn't be such a lot for a big state like CA or TX. But think what it would do for Vermont or Idaho or.... well you get the point. People, trust this minimum wage worker - $75 billion is a lot!
#184. I was reading a theater text, and the author was talking about how a director should respect his material. For instance it would be a mistake to turn Macbeth in to a cowboy play.Then I thought that might make a funny movie though (see Musea #119) Imagine a horrible director who decides to do Hamlet as a western. Then later says, why stop there. Why not the best characters from all Shakespeare plays - all in one - in a play called Shakespeare Out West.
Imagine it - from Romeo and Juliet - he is in an upstairs jailhouse, and she is trying to get him a saw to escape. Shylock is the mean mustache twirling banker Instead of 3 cackling witches from Macbeth, we have 3 cooks stirring chow round the chuck wagon. The saloon marm is Cleopatra who does the 'asp' dance. The grave digger from Hamlet works on Boot Hill. From Midsummer's Night Dream, one of the cowpokes turns, not into an ass, but his horse. King Lear and his Fool ride into town as a traveling show that sells elixir for comedy relief. And instead of the Hamlet finale swordfight, there is a shootout at high noon. As the director and his assistants are writing this travesty up, he says, "This thing rewrites itself!".
#170. Did you know that about 1/2 of what you learned in school is probably wrong? And its all do to a male dominated education system. As women add their contributions - we get a better picture of... well everything human. Here are 3 examples:
1. Biology/Evolution. Darwinian phrase, "Survival of the Fittest" turns out to be just half the story. FEMALE scientist Lynn Margulis suggests symbiosis - that in every cell we have symbionts allowing us to live - mitochondria to breathe, chloroplasts in plants to photosynthesize and maybe other bacteria that have turned to mutual cooperation between them and all other multicell life. These symbionts give us fitness because we cooperate not because we fight. Thus a better picture of evolution is a mix of a fit fighter, and a sharing symbiont.
2. Psychology. You've heard the phrase, "fight or flight" as a response to stress? Again, just half the story. It seems that a UCLA study with WOMEN leading the study; says that fight or flight is the response of males. Females respond with "Tend and Befriend" stress reaction. Also note in this regard a precursor to this study, the FEMALE disciple of Freud, Karen Horney and her groundbreaking work in human behavior. We're going to hear much more about her contribution as time goes by.
3. History. Male dominated history has students studying one war to the next, and calling it complete coverage. Also claiming tool use (usually phallic shaped weapons) was the key to brain development. We're finding out that just important, if not more is the mother/child bond. Most all of brain development in a child occurs from the period in the womb to a few years after birth. This is the period when the mother controls education, and bonds with the child. With that in mind, all history has to be revised to flesh out the distaff side and get a truer picture of what really happened.
And on and on it goes. Look for big changes as women add their side of the story.
#183. On April 26 I put the finishing touches on my 2,000th painting (or drawing or collage etc.). It is a realistic sea scene of two jellyfish for display in the Inwood Theater; which has a marine theme to the murals by the noted Dallas painter Perry Nichols. I began art work seriously in the early 70's. There were a couple of influences that prompted me to start doing it. One was an astrologer/palm reader who saw it in my palm - but that is another story. I was working in bookstores during those early years and one book that did influence me to start painting was My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. In my first reading I had gotten a sense of how passionate great artists can get about painting. I was inspired and wanted to do great things too. Recently at a used bookstore, I saw a jacket-less hardback copy of the book for $1. I took it home and re-read it. This time it wasn't as good as I had remembered. Instead it was a one dimensional story (probably would have made a better short story) of a young painter and his very conservative and strict Jewish father who thinks painting is sinful. But I did revel in the painting parts this 2nd time - all over again .Anyway - 30 years later and a lot of drawings and paintings down the road - I love painting and drawing more and more - specially now that I have enough skill to express almost anything I want to say pictorially though never quickly, unfortunately.
As to that 2000th painting. It is sea green, very vertical like a Chinese landscape, and shows two Jellyfish. The closer and larger one, is more clear, the smaller and higher up in the picture one, is more murky. Sunlight is falling through the top layers of the water, and the viewer can sense a sea bottom layer in the lowest part. The coloring is very simple with almost all greens - green yellows for highlights, green blues for shadows - specially in the small area under the transparent cup of each jellyfish. It's a good painting and once it is hung on the balcony - I invite you to come see it (Later -I had color reproductions made of the painting, put it in a gold frame that matched the piping in the theatre, and hung it up on the theater's 56th birthday May 16. If you are there, it's at the end of the balcony.)
#2 Contest Extra: In the late 15 century many luxuries of the nobility were being available to small tradesmen or shopkeepers. One was the 4 legged table BUT, most of the nouveau riche opted for the old timey 3 legged tables. Why?
#186. Let's talk theater - not spectacle like most Broadway plays have become - but the good stuff - theater. First you get a theater.... Did you know there are about 5 types of theaters. It's worth exploring. Each have their advantages and disadvantages:
1. The proscenium type. It is the kind most people think of when they imagine theater. It is a box with 3 sides as scenery and the open fourth side facing the audience. It is probably best for fantastic scenery or high mood in that there is a real demarcation between the magic on stage, and the audience. Broadway theaters are proscenium type.
2. The thrust stage. Part of the stage thrusts out from the proscenium into the audience that surrounds it from the front and both sides. There is still a stage house behind the actors, but they can now move deep into the audience. Greek and Elizabethan theater used the thrust stage.
3. Theater in the round. Here the actors are in the middle of the crowd. Scenery must be sparse or it'll block someone's view - yet there certainly is intimacy in this. And you can set this up on a shoestring budget - any room will do. Best for modern plays or plays that need no elaborate scenery or set up.
4.Movable theater.The actors can move anywhere in the room and the audience can follow. Great for a mystery in which the audience participates, or for experimental theater.
5. Outdoor theater. This can be used for street theater, or pageantry, or just about anything. In medieval theater they often had numerous wagons with different short plays in each wagon. The theater came to the people - much like a train with cars!
#188. Sometimes I get more ideas for these e-mail posts than I have time to develop. Here are a few:
1. For cities to support their older buildings and their heritage, I suggest this: tax breaks for renovators- tax hikes for developers.
2. Here's an interesting tip for taking photos. Stretch a white sheet across a door. Light the sheet from behind. Then place a person in front of the sheet and shoot their photo in silhouette. It's a very dramatic look in black and white. Tip from How to Make Good Pictures -1951.
3. I suggest we make a special tax for the richest person in the US. Whoever makes the most money in one year gets to pay the richest person in the US tax of 90% of that years income. That way no one would want to be #1, and all the super rich would race to give a ton of it away in charity before tax day.
4. If you live in a city like Dallas, you've poured $$$$$$$ into light rail. I suggest this for a much more reasonable alt to all that waste (and why do people want to go to a dead downtown area like Dallas anyway?) You choose a road to downtown and make it for buses only. You make it almost nonstop, with few lights (they can be timed to allow buses to go through) and no cars or car traffic to stop it. Then you have light rail without the cost or construction hassle or any of the other monstrous problems and you can add buses as needed during peak traffic periods.
5. This one for Dallas residents only. I hope to start a business of selling bottled Dallas air. The air will be packaged like cola and will look like a green soda bottle with a red cap. The contents will read: "contents: 100% pure trendiness" Then sell for $10 each. Who's investing? (Look for a painting mock up of this 'product' on our website soon - sweet. Later I'll put out a diet version!)
#171. I think that the FCC should do more to insure diversity on the radio. Now we have lots of ad-driven stations - but in a sense they are many voices with only one ventriloquist that says - buy, buy, nothing is important but buying. I would like to suggest that the FCC go out of its way to not only stop blocking diversity - which is does on occasion (note June 3 03 meeting decision), but support diversity on radio. Specifically in every major market they should put aside part of the spectrum for community , no ad, local-content only - radio for the use of that community .
Every major and minor market would then be assured of at least the possibility of one station solely for that city or town (and perhaps 3-5 in larger metroplexes.) I think that, more than LPFM, would ensure diversity in radio. The burden shouldn't be on citizens to set up diversity, it should be on the FCC to assure it Note : on the FCC website you can send in your comments. See http://www.fcc.gov
#3 Contest Extra. Who first used feedback on a recording?
#187. Sculpture is getting harder and harder to define nowadays what with conceptual art and constructions and all the rest. And what is painting and what is collage and when does painting turn into sculpture? I'd like to suggest that we straighten out the confusion somewhat with this division. D= dimension:
2D = paintings/drawings/prints: only works on paper, canvas etc. that are hung on a wall. Collage yes but constructions no.
3D and hung on a wall = relief. This is the raised sculpture that is like a painting but in 3D. We see this in ancient art - Egyptian, Assyrian and such. Also note the boxes of Cornell.3D and setting on the floor = sculpture. Whatever the art: construction, conceptual art, ready mades, pottery, or old fashioned sculpture - if its setting on the floor = sculpture 3D and hanging in the air = mobile. Calder is a fav. here. Maybe now we can dump all the pseudo artsy names and sort all these trendy things out as either Paintings, Reliefs, Sculptures, or Mobiles.
#188. Remember when I said the oil companies raise prices every year before summer trips? And the media asks them why and they always come up with some new lame excuse? Dallas Morning News: 6/3/03 CRUDE SPIKES AGAIN: Worries about higher demand for gasoline propel oil above $30. "Crude oil prices closed above $30 for the first time in 6 weeks, reflecting widespread uncertainty in the global market despite the Iraq war's minimal impact on supplies." (cause we'll believe anything)
#189. I want to recommend a movie, The Man Without a Past. It's a great film in many ways, but the one I want to spotlight is how it is so totally different from Hollywood films. The director is the Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki known for The Match Factory Girl, Lennigrad Cowboys, etc.
Here are some of the features of this feature that you won't see in a Hollywood clone film. It is slow paced, there are few action scenes, the setting - though a major world city, Helsinki - is rural - the outskirts of the city; the actors are not pretty, they are old - they don't have perfect teeth or bodies or hair; they seldom hug or kiss or are openly affectionate; the people act like real people - sometimes selfish, sometimes helpful and cooperative and there are hardly any arguments or yelling; there is no symphonic soundtrack, the music that is performed is played by nerdy looking people, but it's quite good and not pretentious at all; and finally these backwood outcasts have a dignity of character and real class. Name a LaLa film that does that.
#4 Contest Extra: In burlesque the louder the "thwack" of one comic hitting another with a board - the funnier the bit. So a special stick was made "of two thin slats of wood held together" that made the sound of hitting even more fearsome. Name that stick/prop.
#190. One of the things that the world wide web does well is the small site that zeros in on something of narrow interest. When so many sites do it, then your narrow interest is usually covered. An example of that is this site by Clayton Self that spotlights the '40's movie series Blondie. It's about Blondie, her husband Dagwood, kids, dogs, and his mean boss. It's based on the Chic Young comic strip, and there was even a later TV show in the 50's, but the film series is the real gem of the 3 in my opinion. It ran from 1938-1950 and set the standard for every TV family sitcom that followed. It had every thing a good comedy needs: fun characters, set bits (him hitting the mailman), great expressive dogs, clever kids, pretty Mom, and some heart too. It's no wonder that these 28 films were the most popular series of films made. If that piques your interest, then share the fun with Clayton's site at. Http://www.geocities.com/blondieseries/
#190. For decades and decades the cold war set the whole world into two camps: Communist and anti-communist. That was the guiding force to just about everything the US did from the end of WW2 to the time the Soviet Union split up. That breakup pretty much ended the cold war. But....We never had the party. We never picked a day to celebrate the end of cold war hysteria - the end of nuclear threat on that vast 2 sided scale. That's a big deal (if you have ever drilled in elementary school on how to 'duck and cover'! And when it ended we should have not only sighed with relief but partied! If that isn't worth a world wide party - what is? Where's the party?
Contest Answers:
1. Elvis was offered all those films. He could have been a contender!
2. 3-legged tables were preferred by the nouveau riche because they couldn't afford flat floors like the old money folks. And a 3 legged table will sit on any kind of floor.
3. The first feedback on record was John Lennon/Beatles and the song, I Feel Fine.
4. That stick prop used in burlesque to make a mighty noise, was called a 'slapstick". Sound familiar?
#191. At a local bookstore they had a packet of 10 comic books for $2. I bought it and since then I've been getting more and more interested in recent comics. Being a painter, I like to see the art work. Some of it is really amazing. I think there is nothing better to enhance natural artistic talent then endless drawing. And I don't know of anyone who draws more than cartoonists.
Right now there are two powerhouses in mainstream comics.
1. Marvel, known for Spiderman and 4,700 'proprietary characters" (as they call it). Their website suggests they are mostly for licensing, comics, and toys.
2. DC (owned by AOL/Warners) is home to Batman, Superman, etc. Plus subsidiaries like Vertigo and Wild Storm comics. Both conglomerates have gotten into a rut. It's the same ole super powers hero/villain type stories. The advantages of these big companies is the $$$ they have to use for color pages and buying talent that is always reliable and sometimes quite good. But the real fun is in the world of Indy comics.
Indy comics have both the worst and most amateurish comics, and the best and most innovative. And with so many out there it is hard to sort them out. What I like is the freshness, and the many different points of view, stories, and drawing styles. What I miss (besides the big bucks behind it) is the action, plotting, and dynamics of the big guys.
Whoever can mix the two worlds of indy innovation and corp action, will probably have a giant winner of a comic series. Though I've hardly touched the surface of Indy comics, there are some that I think I can recommend as being first rate - and safe bets for those of us just entering comics-land.
1. American Splendor - stories by Harvey Pekar, with drawing by assorted fine artists. Very autobiographical and perziney-ish.
2. Dirty Plotte - comics by Julie Doucet with a great one of a kind style.
3. Maus: A Survivors Tale 1 & 2. Comics about a holocaust survivor that's as good as any recent literature in any form.
4. Eightball or any comics by Dan Clowes (Ghost World). 5. All the comics artists in our Zine Hall Of Fame - who have to deal with real shoestring budgets. Plus don't forget the 60's champ Robert Crumb - all his works are four stars. These 5+1 alone show the strength of indy comics. I can only imagine what else is surfacing out there!
Ender. We live in a special time for art. It is the first time in history where 1. Almost all the art made up to now, is now available for anyone to study and enjoy, and 2. There is more art than anyone can see, hear, visit, read, watch, etc. in a 100 year life time. That means that from now on it is impossible to run out of great art for anyone. How about that? And as we make more and more of it available to more and more people, that reserve will even grow to more than say 2 or 10 lifetimes! (It also suggests in sort of a spooky way, that IF the human pop. continues to slow, stop and reverse, then sometime in the future the contemporary population will have almost all its art made by deceased ancestors. For them, art will be a land of ghosts for 99% of the time.)
But for us current art lovers, what a plethora of goodies to choose from. And imagine the new and future artist trying to absorb and then live up to that cumulative past! Interesting art times for us and our descendants.
Musea is: Tom Hendricks, 4000 Hawthorne #5, Dallas TX. 75219 or e-mail at tomhendricks474@cs.com or url www.Musea.digitalchainsaw.com c Tom Hendricks 2003. Note: Musea will take the next month off and be back in September. Till then stay revolutionary!
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