Thursday, July 05, 2007

Randomness.

PREVIEW OF WHAT"S IN THIS VERY POST!



1} I have no solid idea of what to write for this week's Thursday Thirteen so I'm going with what comes in to my head and what has been of interest to me in the last couple of weeks. The pics you've just looked at are along the direction of where I shall wander during this ramble...
2} We went to the Toledo Museum of Art last week which was just beautiful and had soe gorgeous paintings. I am a long time fan of J.W. Turner and this painting, The Campo Santo, Venice 1842, oil on canvas was lovely to see in person. So delicate and messy at the same time.
Camille Pissarro Still Life 1867, oil on canvas, looked like it was painted last week. It was so stunning in real life and the paint and work so alive and powerful. Pissarro rocks.
3} Odds and ends of movies I've watched recently: Lord of War with Nicolas Cage playing a gunrunner in late 1990's up to 2001, really enjoyed it, slick fast and depressing...maybe not as depressing as Syrianna, but same kind of ideas. Matchpoint hated it. I am so pissed off that Woody Allen made a movie about a guy who gets away with murder. Does he really think this is a metaphor for him marrying his own kid? Yuck. I was so put off by this boring movie I watched an episode of Columbo and L & O immediately where they catch the bad guys. The Rules of Attraction I liked this pure soap opera...had read the book years ago, one of the main characters is Sean Bateman, yep, Patrick Batemans brother from American Psycho movie based on Easton Ellis book...they transfer to the big screen real nice. Drugs, lots of sex and really shallow awful people who are self aware of their own tragic flaws. Juicy entertainment, not as tragic as the novel in tone. The soundtrack was terrific. You, Me and Dupree was hilarious and charming and Stagg and I were totally hooked on the characters, the escapades and how would it resolve. A true delight. I believe the world is a better place with Owen Wilson in it.

4} Independant America,/li> just arrived from Cannes and is an excellent movie. Married journalists go to 32 states with two rules, 1) No Interstates: They can only travel on secondary highways and country roads. 2) They can only do business with Mom & Pop. No McDonald’s. No Best Westerns. No Wal-Marts. Trailer for Independant America: The Two Lane Search For Mom and Pop. Near the beginning of the movie two examples of "mom and pop" businesses are shown, the very first Starbucks in Seattle (which Mister Anchovy, The Underground Baker and I went to in 1989 and the very first Borders in Ann Arbor Michigan. As the movie ends...a visit to Arcata, California interested me because the town restricts 9 fast food corporate chains allowed to operate at any one time in the city. They aim to produce and shop locally.I just want to hop in a car and start driving...

5} Um, er...excuse me? Holy shit look how Hollywood has inspired Posh Spice! Remember when she was all buttondowned and preppy-ish looking? I have to admit aside from her stiff animatronic posture, I love her Xanadu clothes.

6} This is embarrassing...but I've been geeking out when GOOGLE decorates their logo for seasonal events.
7} The internet has a fabulous added bonus. You can watch tv shows online and catch up on episodes you might have missed! I loved this feature last month when Oprah put out takes on her website...almost an extra 50 minutes of interview with Cormac McCarthy. In fact, the stuff she didn't air on her show was much more interesting than the stuff she did air. Tow shows I love...The Closer and Studio 60 Sunset Strip have entire episodes online.

8} This exhibition was notably different because of the amount of series work hung together. Half a dozen Mao's in a row seemed cheerful, comical like the guy might have been a lot of fun at a party.

9} I've seen a lot of Andy Warhol's work in person over many many years. And I've seen the Marilyn's many times in various venues...but this was several Marilyn's in a row and around a facing corner. I always thought these were such royal gorgeous paintings and this time, I saw something so sad and different, how heavy her make up was how layered and mask like and she seemed so heavy. Stunning. Quite opposite of seeing the Mao series.

10} I found these especially beautiful. It was kind of a shock to really feel how young Mick Jagger was in these paintings. Again, there were about 9 of them hanging in a group, and it was an impressive experience..

11} I think the Kathy Griffin reality show My Life On The D List is the best reality show on tv right now...it's got the most entertainment per minute. So many reality shows, and trust me, I KNOW, I am so addicted to reality tv...have repetitions, over hype, but her show really delivers. She also seems like a super cool person and there is a laugh every minute or so...and humor kills me.

12} Kathy Griffin is from Chicago, Oak Park burb in the above photo, she grew up not far from Stagg. I think it's her common sense no-nonsense mid-west sensibility that makes her so darn funny.

13} I forgot about something else in a previous post. I listed off a couple of things like, a taxi accident, a missed bus, sleeping on the floor of the bus depot and a bus breakdown. Then I said the rest of the drive was idyllic. WHAT? I forgot about an hour outside our destination...and remember, this was a three hour tour going on about 14 hours...traffic stpped.See bus trip photos below) Lots of bollards and signs ROAD CONSTRUCTION AHEAD. Two hours later we pass a bunch of backhoes, forklifts and dump trucks picking what looks like garbage off the side of the highway. I said, it looks like a flood. About 200 feet later we see a smashed shredded UPS truck. All the stuff on the side of the road was the broken-open-packages. If you're expecting a UPS delivery, I'm sorry.

15 comments:

Cinnamon Girl said...

I loved that post! I love Bret and I have been meaning to netflix that. I am not surprised by the soundtrack being good. Bret has a way with that.

And I wanna go to that Mom and Pop store. I am friend on big city yuppies :P

Anonymous said...

I like Kathy Griffin too. Haven't managed to catch the show yet though. Great list. Happy 100th TT Celebration!

Amy Ruttan said...

That Posh Spice thing freaked the bejeebus out of me. WHat the heck was she thinking.

FREAKY.

So what are you writing? You have me intrigued. I always wondered by looking at your art if you wrote. Guess I was right!

Unknown said...

Posh scares me now...a lot...

Those paintings are wonderful. I would love to see them in person someday.

Candy, I always love your posts hon!

* (asterisk) said...

1. I like Kathy Griffin. She's funny!

2. I too have seen quite a few Warhols in the flesh. there was an exhibition here in London about 12 years ago or so. So good I bought the book!

3. This morning my two-disc copy of Lord of War arrived. At £2.99 (US$6) including shipping I couldn't resist. Good movie. Read my review over at Such As They Are, if you like.

Hope you guys are well!

Mitchypoo said...

I loved your randomness...Happy TT!

Anonymous said...

Mick Jagger actually looks cute! WOW!

And, Posh looks like a Barbie doll in that get up.

Lady, I have missed coming by....your site and my computer do not like each other. I was having trouble w. it crashing. Maybe it is a Mercury retro thing and it is all done now!!!

Karen said...

Has Posh looked in a mirror lately? Oh god...that's horrific. And boobs can't get more fake than that.

Independent America sounds great. Not sure if it'll find it's way up here but I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Not a fan of Turners although I do find his "Slave Ship" fascinating.

Darla said...

I liked Lord of War, though I had to stop watching in the middle of the ending, recover, and then watch the ending. I think I expected it to have a Hollywood-happy ending--which is not to say that I wanted it to, just that it's what I'd expected. So I had to readjust my thinking before I could enjoy the end.

Ditto on Owen Wilson.

And Independent America sounds wonderful. A friend just did a motorcycle trip on Route 66, and her travelogue & pix were inspiring. I love road trips anyway. Carl & I intend to take a nice long one by ourselves when we get back to the U.S.

Spy Scribbler said...

I've always wanted to see a real Andy Warhol! You always have such great photos up on TT!

Happy TT!

Tink said...

Your TT is random, but interesting nevertheless! Posh has become Scary Spice... Yuk!
Thanks for visiting my handfasting TT.

felix said...

I liked the idea of "Independent America," getting off the interstate and find little corners of local enterprise.

Reminded me a little of Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat-Moon. Came out in the eighties, about following secondary highways (marked in blue on road maps) across America.

A quotation from the book perhaps of interest to you, Candy:

"...a Canadian citizen ... [who] had lived in this country longer than in Canada and liked the United States but wouldn't admit it for fear of having to pay off bets he made years earlier when he first 'came over' that the U.S. is a place no Canadian could ever love."

Smiles and giggles,

Gardenia said...

Especially loved #4 - that would be a great road trip, wouldn't it? When traveling from Wyoming I left the main roads for most of the trip after New Mexico when I turned onto the road to Tucumcari. Wished I had more time and money to stop here and there and fool around some more. It was great - had a felt better would have really been great.

Loved the comments on Marilyn - and the eclectic nature of the post - loved them (13's) all!

Joy Renee said...

once again you leave me dizzy with your juxtipositions. so many of these things i've never been exposed to and those i have will forever be view from a slightly altered perspective. (ala robin williams standing on his desk in dead poets?)

i'm very intrigued by the Independent America film. it reminded me also of Blue Highways which i read while at college in the late eighties and have loved the concept of shunning the interstates ever since. When i could still drive, i always prefered the windy, hilly little two lane roads. i still dream about driving on them occassionaly.

thanx for visiting my tt and so sorry i was so long in returning your visit. last week was consumed by that spring cleaning project i blogged about on surrounding days.

Ashley said...

I loved this post. I'm glad you enjoyed the Toledo Museum of Art. I live in Toledo but I haven't been to the museum in years though. I just might have to make a visit soon.

generated by sloganizer.net