Happy Holidays!

cov13, originally uploaded by Bad Album Covers - volume 2.

Because of the 'War on Christmas', it's more PC to say Happy Holidays. You've got to check out Bad Album Covers - volume 2 on flickr. He is hilarious!!

Temptations miniseries

These are the fake Temptations from the miniseries, The Temptations. They're very much like the real thing.

Rufus Sewell

I've admired this actor for a long time, can you guess why? He's gorgeous and he can also act. Reason: He's British. Now, American audiences are being introduced to him via the TV series Eleventh Hour. It was an originally a British series starring Jean-Luc Picard (can't remember his real name). Rufus Sewell is much better! He plays a rational but dreamy scientist who investigates crimes for the FBI. Yeah, right. Anyway, who cares!

Photo is a screenshot from film Dangerous Beauty by me using Videolan.

David Ruffin

I rented The Temptations miniseries which led me to go on Youtube and see the real Temptations. David Ruffin, the lead singer during their heyday, who sang "My Girl", was so charismatic and handsome. The actor who played him in the movie was the whole movie - everyone else was a little boring. David Ruffin's voice is so soulful, passionate, and sexy. I love his song, "Blood Donors Needed (Give All You Can)", because it has a dub echo in it. Very advanced for that time (1970s).

Pandora Radio (not related to the photo)

OK, I got a picture that says Pandora on it, but this isn't about that. I'm probably the last person to know about Pandora. It's a free web radio where you tell them a song or artist you like, and they find that artist plus related ones. This creates your own customized radio stations. And it's free!! There are also shared stations where someone sets up a station that you can tune into. Right now I'm listening to "Burning Spear Radio" by Patty. Pandora is listenable on iphone and itouch ipods. Fantastic public service.

Photo from www.dvdbeaver.com

Sketchbooks

Sketchbooks, originally uploaded by vidalia_11.

Isn't it fun to try out sketchbooks? Too bad they're kind of expensive. These are a "hand*book Travelogue" and moleskine sketchbook, respectively. For pencil, I prefer the hand*book (blue one). It's also a nice square shape. The moleskine is too small for me, but it's cute.

Lost art

This is Spencerian penmanship. I sure wish I'd been taught how to write beautifully, but it was already a lost art in the 1960s. Of course, there are a few people who still do it.

Daniel T. Ames

From Ames' Guide to Self-Instruction in Practical and Artistic Penmanship, 1884. There is no biography of Ames on wikipedia!

Byzantine icons

The Byzantine icons seems the most holy and sacred. This is from St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai.

Divna Ljubojevik

I just discovered this wonderful singer on YouTube. She sings Byzantine Orthodox sacred songs. Usually those hymns are sung by rumbling voiced monks. Her voice is angelic.

Pantages Theatre Lights

Pantages Theatre Lights, originally uploaded by disneymike.

This gives a small glimpse of the grandeur of this former deco movie palace.

Meh.

My aunt invited me to go with her and my cousin to see "Wicked" at the Pantages Theater. This theater is an old Hollywood movie palace and it is incredible!! The art deco details have been renovated to sublime perfection. That was the best part of the evening. Yeah, Wicked is lavish. Yeah, it's impressive to look at. Yeah, the singers are incredibly good. But....the songs were boring and all sounded the same, the volume was earsplitting (I had to stuff napkin pieces in my ears), and the story is downright stupid. But if people are enjoying it, I say, let them.

Giovanni Bellini

Pieta, 1505. Bellini was a Venetian painter, like Carpaccio, I see the same stillness and airlessness in their paintings. This isn't a criticism, it's just how they strike me. Bellini's famous pupils were Giorgione and Titian.

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

Francisco Goya, El sueño de la razon produce monstruos, 1799.

Los Caprichos, the collection from which this comes, is extremely disturbing and this is the only etching I can look at. It also has the best title.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

The Round Tower, ca. 1761
Title Page for Prisons, ca. 1761

Piranesi etched some amazing views of Rome that are incredibly detailed and huge, but I couldn't find reproductions of them. His drawings of "Imaginary Prisons" are just as good. What fantastic, ominous visions he had.

Row well and live

Row well and live, originally uploaded by vidalia_11.

R.I.P. Charlton Heston. I only learned today that he was very liberal in the 1960s. He was also extremely witty. Thanks for the memories, Charlton.

Piero della Francesca

Ideal City, ca. 1470.
della Francesca was obsessed with studying perspective, and this is a beautiful example of his obsession.

Carafa Chapel (1489-91)

The frescoes were painted by Filippino Lippi. They're located in the church Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome. Wouldn't it be fantastic to attend services in a church with gorgeous frescoes on every wall?

Wassily Kandinsky (1886-1944)

Kandinsky is very cool. I just realized it and now appreciate him.
Yellow, Red, Blue (1925)
Composition VIII (1923)

Give Us The Teachings of His Majesty

For we no want no devil philosophy.

Bob Marley (1945-1981)