“All those well-meaning people who gave me obscure books,
When what I really needed was a good meal.”
Robert Garnell Kaufman was an American Beat poet and surrealist inspired by jazz music. In France, where his poetry had a large following, he was known as the “black American Rimbaud.”
lone scarecrow standing
shadows dance in the garden
with the midday sun
Frank J. Tassone: #109 Scarecrow
Autumn always brings memories of you. I see your eyes in the bright turquoise sky, and I hear your cadence in the birdsong outside my window. I watched a video of you singing, and I wondered, why did you silence your voice? Did you believe there was no other way?
autumn leaves decay
rain still falls, sadness remains
as mourning doves coo
©2018 Linda Lee Lyberg
Excellent!
BRUCE’S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC THAT YOU PROBABLY WON’T HEAR ON THE RADIO
Music: “Punk Rock Club, R.I.P.” from the album PUNK ROCK CLUB
Artist: The Unlovables
Artist Location: Brooklyn, NY
Info: “The Unlovables are a band from New York City. They played pop punk back when it was really cool, and kept playing it when it became profoundly uncool, and are still playing it now that it’s relatively cool again. Current members: Hallie, Mikey, Frank, and Fid!”
“Punk Pock Club, R.I.P.”— the sixth track of a six-track EP
Some Lyrics:
i guess we just thought that you’d always be around
i guess we took you for granted
since you’ve gone we don’t know what to do with ourselves
we’re just bored and disenchanted
i guess i just want to thank you for the good times
every single drop of sweat and every bruise
this town just won’t be the same without you around
since you’ve gone the punks are all singing the blues
why’d they close the punk rock club
from The Punk Rock Club EP, released January 1, 2002
Bass & vocals: Hallie Bullit
Guitar: Christian Tattle Tale
Drums: Jordan Lovelace
Price: $1 (USA) for track; $5 (USA) for album
If you are OK with paying for it, you can use PAYPAL or CREDIT CARD.
Genre: Pop Punk
Problem-Solving
• Al Capp, the cartoonist of Li’l Abner, was a master at keeping his audience interested in his comic strip. He always made sure that the storylines of his comic strip ended on Wednesdays. That way, he had a few days to build up audience interest in a new storyline before the Sunday hiatus. Mr. Capp once explained, “If I ended one on a Saturday, millions of my readers would have nothing to worry about over the weekend and would forget me and turn to Popeye.”
• Architecturemagazine once hired Margaret Bourke-White to take some photographs of a new schoolhouse that was being constructed. She looked over the scene, but although the schoolhouse was impressive, the rubbish of construction marred its location. No problem. She cleared away what rubbish she could, then visited a florist shop to buy flowers to stick in the muddy ground and make it look attractive.
• The Renaissance painter Raphael (1483-1520) was supposed to paint the first floor of the palace of his friend Agostini Chigi, but Raphael fell in love and because of the time he spent wooing his lady love, his friend despaired of ever having his palace painted. Fortunately, Mr. Chigi solved the problem by having Raphael’s lady love move into his palace until the painting was completed.
• Impressionist painter Claude Monet wanted to paint a large canvas measuring eight feet by seven feet. Normally, this would not be a problem, but Monet wanted to paint it outdoors, and he had to figure out a way to reach all parts of the canvas. Eventually, he dug a trench in the ground so that he could raise or lower the painting as needed.
• In 1977, Pop artist Andy Warhol attended a dinner given at the White House by President Gerald Ford. Mr. Warhol wore a formal white jacket and pants, and a white tie. Because the dress pants itched, underneath them Mr. Warhol wore a pair of blue jeans.
Royalty
• When Queen Hatshepsut ruled ancient Egypt, it was the world’s most powerful nation. When her father, Thutmose I, died without a male heir, she married her half brother, as was common in Egypt’s royal family then, and they ruled Egypt together. Her husband, Thutmose II, died after ten years of marriage, and his son by a concubine became Pharaoh Thutmose III. He was still a child, so Queen Hatshepsut became regent of Egypt. However, after seven years as regent, she named herself the King of Egypt. Because males dominated ancient Egyptian society, and because she wanted to reassure the ancient Egyptians that the kingship was in good hands, Queen Hatshepsut made sure artists portrayed her as a man. Ancient Egyptian works of art show her wearing the false beard that pharaohs wore, and they show her without breasts. She was also called “His Majesty,” although ancient scribes sometimes referred to her as “His Majesty, herself.” Most Egyptologists give her high marks because during her twenty-year reign Egypt was both prosperous and peaceful.
• Celebrity photographer Richard Young was in Tangiers, Morocco, to shoot Malcolm Forbes’ 70thbirthday party. The morning after the party, Mr. Young learned that his flight back to London had been delayed. He saw King Constantine of Greece walking to his private plane, so he called to him, “Good morning, sir. Is there any chance of a lift back to London? I’m delayed.” The king waved to him, but kept on walking. The captain of the plane then approached Mr. Young and said, “King Constantine would love to give you a lift to London, but sadly he is flying to Austria.”
• Author and artist Edward Lear, of A Book of Nonsensefame, once gave a series of art lessons to Queen Victoria. Of course, coming from a family who had been royalty for a very long time, she had many, many portraits and other works of art hanging in the palace. One day, she took Mr. Lear on a tour of the palace, showing him many of the works of art there. He was amazed at such a wealth of art and exclaimed, “Oh! Where did you get all these beautiful things?” Queen Victoria replied, “I inherited them.”
***
Copyright by Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
THE COOLEST PEOPLE IN ART
davidbruceblog #2 