Dimple's Passing

I found out this morning that my friend Karen's mom, Dimple, has passed away. Karen's family has always been special to me and they've always treated me like one of their own. I can't tell you how many times Dimple has fed me or at least tried to. If you went to her house you had to eat something. I will be reflecting on her passing and will possibly share more with you all later. I am so glad that I got to spend just a little bit of time with her and GC a few weeks ago. I feel, in a weird sort of way, as if I got to say goodbye.

Robert Rauschenberg Dead at 82

Rauschenberg was one of those artists that I didn't connect with until recently. I suppose I had to mature into understanding his art. I have recently looked at alot of his work and watched a documentary about him and have a greater appreciation for his talent than I did in my earlier years. You'd think he would have been one of my faves from early on since he was a contemporary and good friend of Jasper Johns, one of my favorites, but it just didn't work out that way. And now he's gone.

For more on Rauschenberg go here.

Art News

I trekked downtown today to see about a possible venue for my art. It went well. I am now booked for September at Lustre Communications as part of the First Thursday Art Walk in downtown Seattle. Their place is right across from the Seattle Art Museum so it's in a well travelled area. This means I am booked every month this year except for Oct. and Dec.
I stopped by Twilight to chat with Mary about the June show in West Seattle. I have a 14 ft. wall to fill so I'll be showing a significant amount of work. With the other shows I have coming up it looks to be a good summer for more exposure.
All that's left to do now is...make more art!

Prayer Request

One of my oldest and dearest friends let me know today that her mom is very ill. Her mom has been in declining health for a while now. The doctors have said that she may not last more than a couple of days. The family has been called in. Please keep the entire family in your thoughts and prayers. Karen's mom's name is Dimple and dad is G. C.
I'm very happy that Sarah and I spent time with Dimple and G. C. while we were home a few weeks ago.

Booklist

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

"In a dreary train station in England on their way back to boarding school, Peter, Susan,Edmund, and Lucy suddenly feel themselves being tugged into another world. They arrive on an unknown island, where they find the ancient ruins of a palace. But something feels familiar about this place. Eventually the children recognize that they are at Cair Paravel, where they themselves ruled as Queens and Kings of Narnia. They discover that they have been called back to Narnia because the forces of Old Narnia are in trouble. Just one year has passed in our world, but hundreds of years have passed in Narnia. The rightful king, Prince Caspian, is fighting a war against his uncle, King Miraz, who wants to destroy the country of Aslan—the Talking Beasts and trees, the Dwarfs and Fauns—and all memory of Old Narnia. In desperation, Caspian’s forces have blown a magical horn—the very horn Susan once received the last time they were there in Narnia—to summon the Lion and the children to help them in their struggle."*

I thought I'd read this in anticipation of the upcoming film. Having read the story, I know there will be a lot of tweaking to make it a film. I didn't enjoy this story as much as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I think they can improve on the storytelling with the film. We'll see.

The Mist by Stephen King

A mysterious mist envelops a town bringing with it a horde of strange, dangerous creatures. A small group of people trapped in a grocery store must battle the monsters and themselves to survive.

Well, I had just read this book back before the movie came out but after I finally saw the film I thought I'd read it again to compare. I really like the story. It's right up my alley. Apocalyptic survivors and weird monsters. Yes, I know I'm a bit strange. Nothing new there.

There are pros and cons to both the book and the movie. The only problem I have with the book is that David Drayton, his wife's fate unknown, has sex with a woman in the store after only having been trapped for about 24 hours. That didn't ring true to me. The movie has more problems but I liked it anyway. It's a fun ride with lots of thrills and chills. The biggest problem is the ending. Granted, it was a choice made by director Frank Darabont and approved by King himself, but I found it to be a harsh choice. The book ends with a glimmer of hope. The movie ends with none.

*Link

Speed Racer... I Told You So

Well, Speed hardly made it around the track. It debuted in 2nd (Iron Man kicked butt again) with a measly 20 mil. Now, I haven't seen it so I can't pan it. But the critics rained fire down on it and the trailers pretty much told the tale. I think Speed has crashed and burned.
Sorry Wachowskis. Try again.

Artwalk Still On

I finally found out that I am still to be a part of the artwalk in Edmonds on Thursday night. I also found out that I'm in the same business I was in back in November. I was hoping to have a different venue to try out this time around. Here's hoping the weather is better than last time. If this one doesn't yield better results, I'll be done with this particular artwalk for a long while.

The Joke's On You, Buddy!

Read this. When will people learn you just don't joke around about stuff like this anymore.

Leading Worship and Other Things

Last night I lead worship for the first time in quite a long while. I think it went fine but I was dog tired by the time it was over. Over the last couple of days I've been painting alot at work and it's made my shoulders and arms a bit sore. Add on top of that having to get ready for the 2 artwalks this week and a late night rehearsal on Thursday...well, by the time Friday arrived I was spent. Maybe it was good that I was tired because it may have served to take the edge off my nervousness. I don't know. I was a bit nervous, I guess because I hadn't done the worship thing in a while.
Like I said, I think it went fine. For some reason, my voice was super strong on Thursday night but on Friday night it was starting to give out on me. Thank goodness we had a break between the 2 sets. Today my throat is killing me. I hope it's just from the singing and not something else.
In other news, I don't know what to do about the artwalk that I was supposed to be a part of in Edmonds this Thursday night. It's been months since I heard from the lady who booked me and you would think I would hear from her this week seeing as how the event is less than a week away. No dice. I've sent 2 emails with no response. Oh well. I guess you win a few and lose a few. I guess I could still hear from her but this kind of disorganization really ticks me off.

Wandering Wallingford

Yesterday afternoon found Sarah and I running a bunch of errands...mostly for me. One stop netted me a Neti Pot, a device for rinsing your sinuses. I'm going to try it out. My sinuses have been giving me fits this year. We'll see how it works out. Another stop was to check out a venue for an art show in November. I'll be showing at Johnston Architects near the banks of Lake Union. I know that's a long time away but I like to book as far in advance as possible. It keeps me working.
Our last stop was in Wallingford for the art walk. We arrived way too early so we grabbed a bite to eat at the Rusty Pelican Cafe. The food was very good but the decor is kinda weird. Too similar to the way southern ladies decorate. After food we wandered a bit, checking out what little art we could find. We ended up at the Blue Star (where I had a show earlier in the year) to check in with the Art Parties gang. We hooked up with artist Doug Keith and his wife Beth and wandered a bit more. We ended up back at Not A Number where my stuff was. After a little bit we parted ways and headed home.
We've been wanting to wander thru Wallingford and it was great to finally have an opportunity. It's a pretty cool neighborhood. Seattle is nothing but a collection of interesting neighborhoods. We've explored quite a few of them but we haven't hit them all. I wish there was a neighborhood we could walk thru where we could say, "Gosh, there's a house we can afford." Alas, I have seen no trailer parks in Seattle. Too bad.

Seattle - Public Image Limited

I hadn't thought of this song in years when it popped into my head today. Weird. Couldn't find it on iTunes so I checked YouTube and there it was. Good song...always have liked it. Apparently the group toured here in the 80's and found it boring so it's not a pro-Seattle song. Fancy that. A negative song from Johnny Lydon. Hmmmmm.

Now that Iron Man is Out of the Way...

...I thought I'd chime in on some of the upcoming superhero type movies that are coming out in the next few months. These are my opinions and mine alone. If you don't agree...tough!

The Incredible Hulk - Well, it looks better than the first one but that's not saying too much. Actually, it looks like it might be okay. It's got a great cast with some of my all-time faves in there: Edward Norton, William Hurt, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler. My biggest concern is the CG Hulk. They are getting better at rendering CG stuff all the time but humanoid creatures still aren't there. Just look at the zombie/vampires from I Am Legend. So, I will give the movie a chance but I do not expect it to blow me away.

The Dark Knight - Call me the only skeptic on the planet if you like but I do not like what I've seen of Heath Ledger's Joker so far. I don't like the look at all. Perhaps I will like the performance. Hey, I'll give the guy props if he deserves them. Right away I must tell you that I did not like Batman Begins. I think Christian Bale is a good choice but the story just left me cold. And crap, they had a stellar cast (with Katie Holmes being one exception) but didn't give them anything to do. C'mon, you've got Gary Oldman...let the man act. I didn't like the way they portrayed Scarecrow, blah, blah, blah. Did I mention that I hated Katie Holmes? Once again, I'll give the flick a chance but I'm not beside myself to see this one.

Indy 4 - Please let this be the last one. Yeah, I'm excited and I hope it's good but don't keep going and ruin it like Lucas did with Star Wars. Let this one be great and then let it stop. Please.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army - Now we're talking. I am so ready to see this one I could wet my pants. I'm a fan of the HB comics and I really liked the first movie. I think the second is just gonna kick butt. Del Toro is the man! I am so glad he's doing the Hobbit. After seeing Pan's Labyrinth you just know it's going to be good.

Speed Racer - I watched Speed growing up. I liked it. But I'm not sure about these lights-flashing, seizure-inducing trailers I've been seeing. I think the Wachowski's are going to make it too fast to enjoy. It's kind of like in Transformers where the robots were fighting but it was just a blur. If you can't tell what you're looking at, what's the point? It all started with the pod race in Phantom Menace. I blame George Lucas.

Hancock - Leave it to Will Smith to turn the superhero genre on it's ear. I just saw a trailer for this today and it looks interesting. I love the whole whale thing.
Smith: "I don't remember that."
Bateman: "Greenpeace does."
Priceless. I hope it's good and that Mr. July does it again old school.

Also on the horizon, I'm looking forward to Prince Caspian, Wall-E and The Happening by M. Night Shyamalan (say what you want...I loved Lady in the Water). And by the way, I loved Iron Man. I thought it was great. And the thing at the end of the credits...awesome!

Busy Week

This week finds me preparing for a couple of artwalks. There's not a ton to do but it's still a matter of choosing the right art to display. Luckily, Wednesday nights gig in Wallingford is taken care of. I just have to get Friday's show in Greenwood ready. I'm also supposed to be involved in the Edmonds artwalk on the 15th but I have yet to get any follow up info. Here's hoping I hear from someone this week.
This Friday night our church is having a big party for Celebrate Recovery, a program for folks with addictions. Midlife Chrysler is playing and it will be the first time I've lead worship in many a year.
Sarah is busy getting the next show up and her tech week starts on Friday night. Like I said, a busy time for both of us.

The Fine Art of Facebook

This is stupid, I know, but it's something I struggle with partly because I am so freakin' literal (ask my wife) and partly because my definition of friendship is way different than alot of the world's. Everyday I am shown other people that I might be friends with. Now, for me, a friend is someone I am intimate with to some degree on a regular basis. It seems in the Facebook universe a friend is anyone you have been in contact with, even if remotely, so you can jack your numbers up to the Nth degree.
Okay, I already told you this was stupid. So why are you still reading? I guess I bring this up because not only is it a struggle for me in Facebook but it's also a very real struggle in real life. There are many, many people I interact with quite a bit but I do not consider them friends. Whether they consider me a friend, well, you'd have to ask them. It seems to me that there's a game that people play where friendship is a facade, a game to be played. That game is played for many reasons. Some play to get something they want. Sometimes this can also be called brown-nosing or butt-kissing. Some play so that they can say they know the person. These folks are called name-droppers. There are other reasons but I won't go into them. The point is that this whole playing at being friends is not something I want to be a part of. To me a friendship is a deep, important thing. I abhor shallow aquaintances as much as I do small talk. If I sense that someone has no desire to invest in real friendship, I usually won't have much to do with that person. I don't have time to work at relationships that aren't going anywhere. I'm also not a gameplayer. You're not likely to see me kissing ass. If I am required to smooch someone's nether regions to aquire an art show or the like, count me out. I can hang my stuff elsewhere.
So, what's the point of this rant? I think it's just an expression of my frustration with my struggle with Facebook and it's correlation with the real world of friendship. It's something I've struggled with all my life and I guess I will continue to struggle with it for the rest of my days.
Yippee.

Waverunner Pics

Here are those waverunner shots I promised last week. We had alot of fun that day. Too bad we got sunburnt and ruined our next two days in the sun. Oh well. There's always next time.