The masterpiece should appear as the flower to the painter -
perfect in its bud as in its bloom - with no reason to explain its presence
- no mission to fulfill - a joy to the artist, a delusion to the philanthropist
- a puzzle to the botanist - an accident of sentiment and alliteration
to the 'art surfer'.
James McNeill Whistler.
David Letterman on my home town: "Dallas is enormous - it's like a small city on Jupiter. It's huge!
This Just In: Musea has just learned that our reading fund has received a major donation! Paul T. Riddell, of Healing Power of Obnoxiousness (www.hpoo.com) has donated $166.47 in credit. A big thank you, Paul!
Architecture: On American architecture: "The interest in various styles has resulted in the adoption of certain styles as suitable for certain types of buildings: Gothic for churches, Baroque for theaters, Renaissance for government buildings, and so on." The Humanies, Dudley & Faricy.
Mini-Quiz: What city was Winnie the Pooh named after? (Answer later).
We remember the passing of: Julie London, sexy, sultry singer (I actually have one of her breathy, classic LPs) and Steve Allen, TV pioneer with a wide variety of talents and a definite knack for intellectual silliness.
Art: Adam Horowitz, a 42-year-old Santa Fe artist has build Stonefridge, a replica of Stonehenge. He says the sculpture is a monument to consumerism and waste and is meant as a tombstone for landfills everywhere. So far, 80 fridges are in place. (AP)
The University of Oklahoma in nearby Norman has got one nice fairy godmother. Clara Weitzenhoffer has given the school a gift of 22 paintings and 11 works on paper from the likes of Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Van Gogh, etc., valued at $50 million dollars. Wow!
Complaint from the Union of Female Painters and Sculptors in the 1860's: "Its' almost as if the fine arts administrators were saying, 'We very much want women artists, but we want to incarcerate them in the most humble mediocrity. They will be permitted to make industrial arts, fans, screens, small pots of flowers and portraits of cats, but we bar them the route to honors and glory. That we reserve for (men) alone." (Arts & Antiques)
Biggie Rock Concert: Rio de Janero will host a huge rock concert from January 12-21. They expect 1.5 million people and performers ranging from Neil Young and Iron Maiden, to Britney Spears and Foo Fighters (have you heard their version of Stairway to Heaven?)
It's usually the TV show at the bottom of the ratings, but Grosse Pointe, the send up of 90210 is really a lot of bitchy fun. But the reason I point it out is because it's theme song, Sex Bomb by Tom Jones is an out and out hit, and my favorite song right now. Check it out.
Chumps of the Month: This month's chumps are all the celebrities that are cashing in on children's books. 5,000 children's books come out each year. Some have merit. But the only ones getting promo are those written by the stars because they get on the talk shows and thus they can get shelf space at the chains. Here's a partial list of the meanies: Jamie Lee Curtis, Katie Couric, John Lithgow, Debbie Allen, Carly Simon, Julie Andrews, Laura Schlessinger, Rosanne Cash and Michael Jordan's mom. (I say buy a good kid's book, Musea's Moon Tea, an anthology that took two years to create.)
The oldest and largest children's film festival in the US is in Dallas - USA Film Festival presents the 17th Annual Kidfilm Festival, Jan. 8-21. We salute!.
Architecture: No architecture is so haughty as that which is simple. - John Ruskin
Fashion: When everybody looks alike, what difference will it make? - Art S. Revolutionary
Case in point: Aug. 1 a Tokyo trading company switched its male employees from dark suits to a casual everyday dress code. Next day all 30 men showed up in short sleeve shirts; no jackets, no ties. "It made the office look like a whole different place." Says Tatsuya Hayahi, the department's senior coordinator. (Newsweek
Quote from perhaps the world's best fashion designer, Yves St. Laurent: "I think that couture is in danger because there are not enough professionals to assure that it lives. I remember the era when I was struggling against giants like Balenciaga, Chanel and Givenchy, which of course was very stimulating. I learned a lot from these geniuses. But today there are no longer geniuses, so there is no longer competition. I miss that a lot. (Talk
MiniQuiz answer: The only known oil painting of Winnie-the-Pooh by the original illustrator E. H. Shepard, was bought at Sotheby's for $177,000 and brought back to its namesake, Winnipeg, Canada. A bear cub found in Winnepeg and named after the city ended up in the London Zoo. The bear was a favorite of zoo visitors A. A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin. The rest is history. (Reuters)
Stay Revolutionary! Art S. Revolutionary