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.