"Sprinter". Madonna. Shiva.

It's an early "Sprinter" (spring/winter) morning. Light rain has been falling all through the evening which has made the sun rise silverly and slightly gloomy. I slept poorly all night with the craziest of dreams which involved, in no particular order, :

Being abducted by an aliens while stranded at a remote mountain cabin

Having a conversation about music while in bed with Madonna.

Selling hot dogs in an inner-city neighborhood in the middle of the night with someone that I went to High School (whom I've not seen in 20 years) in order to raise money for a slain policeman who happened to be 9 years old.

Needless to say, I woke up with a groggy "WTF??!!" floating through the haze of my fading slumber state as I ran my hand across my hair which had been restyled into some sort of nocturnal horror by my tossing and turning.

I also woke with the realization that I must attend the funeral of a close friend's mother this morning who died last Saturday while having surgery. I'm not looking forward to that. I never knew the woman, and frankly, have heard from her on children and others that she wasn't the nicest person that one could want to meet. But, nevertheless, her daughter is a dear friend of mine and I will attend for her sake and the sake.

She is Jewish and I have never been to a Jewish funeral service before. I must admit, as new experiences go, that aspect of it intrigues me. After the service, we will visit the house where her family home (where her father still lives) to "sit Shiva". Something else I've never experienced before. I'm concerned that there may be some protocol that I am unaware of. For example, on wikipedia.com, I found this line "Often, visitors will recite the traditional words of consolation, Ha-Makom y'nachem et'khem b'tokh sh'ar avelei Tziyon viyrushalayim, which translates as "May the Omnipresent comfort you among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem." Hmm. No offense, but I don't know if I can actually get my mouth to pronounce that properly. I like the English translation, but it sounds a wee bit intense.



I'll just go with the flow and try not to stick out to much though I'm certain to be the only 6 foot 5 man blonde man there.

My friend tells me that it will be like a party.


http://flickr.com/photos/jemsweb/

But I have my doubts about that for some reason.

Venus De Milo was noted for her charms...

http://museumofbeauty.biz/

I discovered the visually rich and mesmerizing link above off of a link from the fabulous blog eternallycool.net. The link I came across is http://eternallycool.net/?p=1004. It seems that eternallycool.net is all about the scene of my favorite places in the world - Rome! They describe themselves as a hip hub where "you can keep up with all that’s happening in the world’s oldest and coolest city. From art to food, from fashion to furniture, from advertising to literature, and from street life to art exhibits, we’ll keep you up on everything that makes Rome eternally cool." I feel in love with Rome during a visit there last Autumn and I will be back. Eternallycool just helps me to realize why my love affair with the "eternal city" continues.

Now - back to Ms. Venus. It seems that Konica Minolta was able to take over 300 scans of her by means of a non-contact 3D digitizer which projects a red laser light on the statue and captures the reflected light with a CCD camera ( you can see a demo at the Museum of Beauty). They have created an online presentation of the work that you can scroll through and see some truly amazing imagery.

The only caveat that they seem to focus on which has never held much fascination for me is the old "what would she look like if she had arms" question. They spend a good amount of time on that issue on the site and still, of course, it is all conjecture. I personally don't care what she would look like with arms as it won't change the fact that she doesn't have arms in reality! One of the visual aspects of the statue that I find so intriguing is that fact. There is symmetry and beauty in her as is. It's one of the facets that I find so amazing. Imaging a work of art so compelling that even flawed, it still entrances. We live in a society that is so quick to change, disguise and conceal what is really there - like a high-tech "emperor's new clothes". When I found that this was one of the main aspects of this site, I began to wonder if the giant proverbial snowball hadn't been pushed over the edge already. What was next? Perhaps we should digitally remove the wrinkles from Rembrandt's aged self-portraits or digitally re-attach Van Gough's ear. You get my point. The photos on the site are lovely nevertheless.

I remember when I saw Venus for the first time at the Louvre. It was an amazing visit that day.
It was my first time in Paris and George and I had visited with a friend about one month after 9/11. Of course, we had planned the trip months prior to that, but that's how it worked out. Initially we were insecure about making the trip, but then we figured that security was so tight that the chances of anything else occurring at that time were slim to none. Fortunately, we were right and the trip was phenomenal. What was so amazing however, was how few tourists there were in Paris that autumn and it meant two things. First, the Parisians (of whom we had been warned continuously about due to their supposed rudeness towards Americans at that time) were absolutely welcoming and charming. Secondly, we were practically the only three people visiting the sites everywhere we went. Now, to be fair, it was cold and rainy the day we went to the Louvre ( perfect weather actually). But I'll never forget standing in front of the Venus De Milo with perhaps only 10 other people, two of which were my traveling companions! I thought it was odd, but I just soaked in the experience. When you read this quote about the VDM from eternallycool.net you'll understand why that was such a rarity: "She so fascinates the public that the gallery in which she stands in the Louvre is usually mobbed with visitors snapping photos as quickly as possible - making a real and reverential visit impossible".

As if that wasn't wonderful enough during my visit to the Louvre, we later found ourselves standing in front of the Mona Lisa. Again, just the three of us and two security guards. I turned to the one companion who had been to Paris before and I asked her if that was normal. She seemed as stunned as I and said "absolutely not". I swear it's a true story, but I can tell that anyone that I mention that to that has visited the Louvre and has tried to see the Mona Lisa or the Venus De Milo doesn't believe me. That's fine however, because my wonderful experience there is one reality that is not going to change.

Hey - check this out, while I was typing this entry I received an email from TalentDataBase.com informing me that I have just been chosen to be "spotlighted" on their Talent Portal. How cool is that?



Here's the link: http://www.talentdatabase.com/profiles?pf%5Btype%5D=TalentProfile

St. Pat's Day

It’s Monday and St. Patrick’s day. Oddly enough, my mind is preoccupied with somber thoughts on this day, which, in their own bizarre way, do manage to connect somehow. You see, over the weekend, the mother of a very close friend of mine tragically died while on the operating table. Without going into much detail, she was undergoing major surgery when she had a heart attack. This caused complications which led to brain injury and death. I believe that she was in her early 70’s ( my friend, the middle of 3 children, is 50). Needless to say, my friend and her siblings (her younger sister is a friend of mine as well) are in a deep state of shock at the unexpected turn of events.

Inevitably perhaps, it led me to think of the death of my own mother, close to 20 years ago, particularly with it being St. Patrick’s day. As a child, my mother was keenly aware and very proud of her Irish heritage. It’s something that she took very seriously and she was insistent that we had to wear something visibly green on St. Patrick’s day in school. This usually worked out to our advantage as there was always some passive/aggressive little freak child who felt the need to severely pinch anyone who wasn’t wearing green. If my memory serves me properly, the child in my class that was responsible for the pinch patrol was named Suzanne R. I recall her as a bitter, quick to anger, little girl with overtly pale skin and bright red hair. She was the quintessential “mean girl”. I’m also pretty sure that she stole my father’s pocket calculator from my desk in 1976 though I couldn’t prove it. I can still see her jejune slack jawed denial of my accusation as if it were yesterday.

But I swerve off track. Only two f my mother’s grandparents actually came from Ireland. Both of whom happened to be her maternal and paternal grandmothers. One was named Julia Shea and the other was named Katherine Downey. Julia married a man named Cyrus Lewis. Little is known of his genealogy with the exception that documents show that his mother was a Native-American - more likely than not, a Mohawk. She was given the name “Jessica Savage” by Cyrus’s father who purchased her somehow. At least that’s how the story goes. She was my maternal great-great grandmother.

My mother’s paternal grandmother married a man named Edward O’Brien who happened to of have been born in the Azores to Antonio and Maria O’Brien. Though the thought of anyone having the name O’Brien in the Azores seems odd, I’ve been told that many Irish immigrated there in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was a Irish/Portuguese mix.

Based on all of that information, my mother could have chosen any number of heritages to be proud of. She went with the Irish. That would explain why I had to search for the perfect green shirt to wear before heading off to the grocery store this morning. All the while I was there, I had this silly fear that I would find the thieving and pinching Suzanne R. working behind the deli counter or check out line.

Butterflies & Mermaids

Butterflies & Mermaids, originally uploaded by sprouseart.

Here's a recent digital collage work entitled "Butterfiles & Mermaids". This works is available in a variety of high quality, full color prints only at http://sprouseart.imagekind.com/.

WTF??!! for non-culture

So, when the evening news finally covers a story about Fine Art, it's served like a tepid glass of watered-down instant Pink Lemonande that's been sitting out in the hot summer sun all afternoon with dead gnats floating on the top. Everything about the following news clip - from the subject matter itself, to the examples of the subject matter in the clip, to the brain-dead fembot "newscasters" who discuss the subject matter - everything in it, serves as the perfect example of why our country has become a cultural wasteland.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4444238

Go make an artist happy

I'm not in the best of moods today. Mostly because this rotten economy is truly threatening to to take its toll on my wonderful artist world - the world that I have been working my ass off for about the last 20 years to create. I've not given in yet however, and actually never will. But, it would sure make life so much more easier if you were to go the link below and purchase a print from this wonderful site that I discovered entitled imagekind.com.

http://sprouseart.imagekind.com/

That's the link to my special place on imagekind. There, you can find prints of all sizes and prices of some of my more popular works as well as some digital-collage works that many of you have never seen before. I just signed up yesterday, but so far, I'm quite thrilled. I've read by several other artists that the quality is top-notch and the customer service extremely professional. So, for all of you out there - and you know who you are - who have been asking me over the years for access to prints of my work, here's your opportunity. Now, please, go make an artist happy, and, if you and I are ever to be in the same room with your print at some point in the future, I will personally autograph it for you, of course, making it worth even more than the small amount that you will have spent on it. Isn't that fun?

Why I love Ellen...

This is one of the reasons that I love this woman. Most people when they meet me make the assumption that I am straight. They do this, more than likely, because I am a big and tall man with a resonant deep voice. I am not what "they expect" a gay man to be like. If I had a dollar for every time I have heard someone make an wildly tasteless joke about gay or lesbians - or even worse - HIV/AIDS in front of me because they thought that I was straight and that I would find it humorous, I could stop working. How many times have I heard phrases like "you sure don't act gay" or "are you're sure your gay?". Every afternoon I hear kids as they walk by my house on their way home from school in an attempt to tease or insult each other calling each other "faggot". It's not a pleasant experience at all.

Most of my straight friends, even family members, would be shocked to learn of the crap that I have had to endure over my entire life because of ignorance and intolerance. I have chosen not to discuss these things with them as it would only upset them. These things include being physically attacked, harassed, and certainly discriminated against in such public venues as restaurants, bars, retail establishments and more. I have actually known more than one gay/lesbian acquaintance of mine who were murdered not unlike the young man that Ellen so eloquently discusses in her video. I have purposefully chosen not to discuss these things with my straight friends and family members in the past as I felt that it would only upset them. All of them are very special to me and each one has been very supportive of myself and certainly of my partner of the last 15 years.

But after watching and listen to the words of Ellen in the video above, and balancing them out against the words of this small minded, hate-filled, ugly cow in the video below (she is actually an Oklahoma State Representative at a gathering in her district. A LAW maker! All thanks to The Victory Fund for posting her vile words and creating the video which they have titled "I'm Listening") I feel that I may have to be a little more vocal about my experiences and a little less tolerant myself of the hate and fear offered by these brain-dead freaks.

Happy & Robust Victorian Couple w/ Butterfly

Happy & Robust Victorian Couple, originally uploaded by sprouseart.

I had a rather busy weekend and wasn't able to drop into my blog as I wanted. It involved a rather tedious and white knuckle 3 hour drive from where I am now through horrendous rain and high wind to visit a close friend. Then, an afternoon at the Hirshhorn Museum where I saw this amazing exhibit (http://hirshhorn.si.edu/exhibitions/description.asp?Type=&ID=50). After this exhibit, I'll never see Fay Wray being introduced to King Kong in the same way ever again.

My friend and I were literally about to enter his studio to paint just as the high winds caused a massive power outage across the region. It left us along with his wife and lovely baby sitting in total darkness. Thank goodness for candles and my trusty Tarot deck which made the evening fly by.

The above image is one that I posted yesterday afternoon and is from my wonderful box of vintage photos. I love the smirked expression on her face as if she is about to burst into laughter. I can tell by the slightly parted lips of the robust fellow next to her that he must of just uttered something under his breath like "take the flippin' photo already" just as the flash went off.

Plus, you just have to love the butterfly hair comb on her head, now probably an antique piece of jewelry somewhere.

Newly Uncovered 1888 Photo Offers Rare Glimpse of Young Helen Keller

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4397922

What a compelling discovery that must of been. And here is another intriguing story about Robert Capa who I blogged about not too long ago. It seems that thousands of negatives of his from his time when he was photo-documenting the Spanish Civil War have turned up in Mexico.

Found: Lost Robert Capa Negatives

And just for the hell out it, here's a hip illustration from a flickr.com user group that I belong go entitled "Eye Candy- trippy hippy kid's books from the 60's and 70's"

D.O.A. Ladies - 1946

D.A.O. Ladies - 1946, originally uploaded by sprouseart.

Wow! What a time capture this is. Another image from my vintage photo box. Summer 1946 and it’s the 25th Anniversary Dinner of the Sterling Council #92 of the Daughters of America, at least that is what is written on the back of this photo. Initially, when I first looked at this photo, I appreciated it for the photographic elements of it all - the very telling and often comical expressions on many of the woman’s faces, the great prints on the dresses (which were so popular in the mid-1940s).

But then when I discovered what the Daughters Of America is (or perhaps was as I can’t find any reference to them after 1978) http://www.rootsweb.com/~srgp/flaghold/flag018.htm, I felt very different about this photo.

Now I see them as uptight, ultra-conservative, racist prigs whose main concern seemed to be getting bibles in the classroom and the elimination of secular politics. Some of these ladies look as if they could lead a lynching party themselves, especially Big Beulah there front and center and her army of 4 crones directly behind her. And, of course, you know that these ladies know every speck of dirt on everyone in the township, especially on the young upstarts who have been delegated to the back rows.



These women were the mothers and grandmothers of the religious right movement as we know it today no doubt. Of course, this photo is 62 years old. Chances are that even the younger women in this image (who appear to be at least 30) are now dust, or close to it. Things were very different then. Fortunately, quite a bit, but still not all, of their foolish ideas have vanished with them.

Girls, one pretty, one not, with hats and dog

Girls with hats and dog, originally uploaded by sprouseart.

OK, I’m still on my vintage photo kick, so bear with me until I move onto other things. Did I mention that I threw my back out getting out of the car last Friday? It happens once in a while, the price paid when tall waisted. While I am 6 feet 5, it’s all from the waist up. I wear a 33 inch inseam on my pants and often can get away with a 32, which, I don’t think is that abnormal. In any event, people with that build throw their backs out more frequently than those who do not have such a build. Today is the first day that I have felt normal and not been walking about like a pretzel in mind-numbing pain. So, I’m very pleased about that!

Now, this is an odd image that was found in my magic box of abandoned photographs. The original is very small ( about the size of a matchbook) and is not mounted on cardboard. It's very sepia toned and because of it's small size and color it's very difficult to make out any detail. I scanned it at 350 DPI then adjusted levels in Photoshop to get this. It's a photo of an older girl with pigtails and a hat, a younger curl caught with a rather unfortunate expression, and a dog.

Initially, I was dating this image to date from between 1895 and 1910. But after further research, I came to the conclusion that this is more likely than not a very early Kodak Brownie Camera snapshot which would date it more so circa 1900 - 1910.


Kodak Brownie Ad from 1900

You can read more about the Brownie here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownie_camera, and every time you snap an image today with your cell phone or digital camera, you can thank the Brownie for introducing the populace to the idea of taking their own photographs quickly and easily.

Speaking of cameras and spinal pain, did you know that George Eastman, founder of the Kodak company suffered from Spinal Stenosis? An excerpt from wikipedia.com -

"In his final two years, Eastman was in intense pain, caused by a degenerative disorder affecting his spine. He had trouble standing and his walking became a slow shuffle. Today it might be diagnosed as spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal caused by calcification in the vertebrae. Eastman grew depressed, as he had seen his mother spend the last two years of her life in a wheelchair from the same condition. On March 14, 1932, Eastman committed suicide.[7] He left a suicide note that read, "To my Friends, My work is done. Why wait?"[8] His funeral was held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester. Eastman, who never married, was buried on the grounds of the company he founded at Kodak Park in Rochester, New York."

Gulp. Well, I'll have none of that. You can read more about his fascinating life here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eastman

Unsettling Moustached Man

Unsettling Moustached Man, originally uploaded by sprouseart.

This is one of the weirdest photos from my vintage photo collection. It’s undated and has been developed on somewhat flimsy paper which has faded greatly and become rather brittle over the years. The original photograph is much darker than this image which I have adjusted in Photoshop. While on some levels, this is a photo of a humorous looking man who appears to be having fun or entertaining, he also give me a bit of the creeps in that psycho-killer clown kind of way.

There is no information on this image at all and I don’t know if this fellow is performing in costume or if this is his everyday look and was photographed in the middle of a story. I love his top hat and his very slight, barley discernible twinkle in his eyes.

Perhaps this fellow is practicing, or is actually performing, some type of vaudevillian act. There is definitely some sort of canvas backing behind him and he seems to be up lit from a light source at his feet like early stage lighting. I guess there's simply no way of knowing, unless someone out there recognizes him. But considering that this image is at least 100 years old, I find that event highly unlikely.

The search for Harland Bryant Tibbetts

Harland Bryant Tibbetts, originally uploaded by sprouseart.

I came across this image many years ago. I found it in one of the many little antique shops that I used to frequent in the Virginia countryside, but I can’t be sure which one. On the back written in pencil are the words “Harland Bryant Tibbetts.’99 - ΛΣ I.H.S.”

Sometimes when you come across the name of a person written on a card, you can still find some very interesting things if you search a bit. I typed the name in a google.com search engine and made several discoveries.

The first link showed me that Harland had a great granddaughter named Lainey who was married on October 18, 1986 and whose wedding was important enough to have been written about in the Style section of the New York Times

(query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEEDE1239F93AA... ).

In the same article, it states that Harland was “a chief assistant counsel to Judge Samuel Seabury in the 1931 investigation of New York City municipal affairs.” I found that of interest as well, especially when you read about how very important these trials were for the average working class New Yorker at that time. They were known as the Seabury Commission: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabury_Commission

Then I found on this page www.rootsweb.com/~nytompki/school/yeard.htm this line of information, “TIBBETTS, Harland Bryant Entered from I. G. S., Sept., 1895; graduated Cl., '99; Congress; class vice-president; commencement speaker. Will enter Cornell, 1900. 232 S. Geneva St., Ithaca”. Now I knew that I.H.S. stood for Ithaca High School and that this was more likely than not a senior portrait taken in 1899. I also know knew that Harland lived on S. Geneva Street.

My next stop was this fascinating link : ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/3168/11/006_1...

Thats where I first saw this : farm3.static.flickr.com/2286/2305707485_508e30786d_o.jpg

That’s from the December 16, 1903 edition of the Cornell Alumni News. According to the article, Harland will be a key debater in “The most important debate event of the year will be the annual Intercollegiate contest between Pennsylvania and Cornell, to be held in Witherspoon Hall, Walnut street, Philadelphia, Friday evening, December 18th.” There’s even a photo of Harland! He does look a bit more mature and polished after 3 years at Cornell.

Here is what is mentioned about him in the article “Harland Bryant Tibbetts, 1904 Arts, of Ithaca, prepared for college at the Ithaca high school and won a state scholarship and also a university scholarship in competitive examinations. In his freshman and sophomore years he represented his class debate club, in the interclass series was a speaker on the '86 Prize Declamation stage in his sophomore year and in his junior year spoke on the '94 Memorial Prize Debate stage. In his junior year he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Tibbetts is also an associate editor of the CORNELL ALUMNI NEWS.”

So, as you can see, a little research can tell quite a bit about a name, especially Harland Bryant Tibbett’s name. What it can’t tell me is how his senior photo ended up in the middle of some dusty and forgotten antique store in the mountains of Virginia.

Blind Willie McTell

It's Friday. Feel like listening to an 80 year old piece of magic?

Amazing no? Why, that sounds so "Dylanesque" you say. Tee Hee. That's "Statesboro Blues" by Blues master Blind Willie McTell recorded in 1928 ( 13 years before Dylan was born). That click will lead you to the wikipedia.com article which explains what a genius he was and how he was so influential for many of today's musicians.

Here's Blind Willie himself with his wife Kate.



Have a great weekend.

Wonderful memory, revisited

My insomnia has been acting up again. At least, I’ll assume that’s what it is. I don’t actually have trouble falling asleep, I have trouble staying asleep. Is that insomnia? I’m not sure. In any case, I woke this morning at 4:00 AM and have been up since. These aren't slowly roll out of bed awakenings with stretches and coos, these are bolt up from your pillow, open eyed, "what's next on my agenda" types of entrances into the dawn. Though, even when I'm not having trouble staying asleep, I pretty much wake up in that manner on a usual basis.

There wasn’t much to do at 4:00 AM except to make coffee, sit quietly in my favorite chair, pick up my laptop, check my email and wait for the sun to rise.

While blinking back the last remnants of sleep and slowly bringing my mind back to morning consciousness, I discovered this little treasure in my in-box sent to me by my brother Nicholas...



This is a wonderful photograph of my mother with one, possibly two, of her sisters and a group of neighborhood friends on the beach. I have no idea who took the photograph, or when exactly, it was taken. I'm guessing though that my mother ( second in from the left with the dark wavy hair) is anywhere between the age of 10 to 12 here, which would date the photo to have been made anywhere between 1946 - '48. I know for a fact that the girl in the back on the far right is my Aunt Anne. I'm almost convinced that the girl in the middle back ( with the sunglasses?) is my aunt Geri though I don't know that to be a fact. In some whimsical corner of my mind, I like to think that perhaps my Aunt Pauline ( my mother's oldest sister who died in the early 1950s at a young age) is the one taking this photo - again, I have no idea who is behind the camera.

My mother was the youngest of all of her 7 siblings ( 8 actually if you count my grandparents second child who died as an infant right after WWI) . She died in 1989, though the two older sisters in this photograph are still living, as are two of her older brothers.

I have always loved this photograph and, oddly enough, it haunted me for several days last week. That's why receiving it in my in-box this morning was such a treat, and rather uncanny treat at that. Obviously, anyone who knows me or reads this blog is aware of my admiration for vintage photographs. I own many. That is to say, I own many vintage photographs of other people and their families. I actually have very few from my own.

You see, after my last remaining parent died (my father, in 2001) , it was up to my two brothers, my sister, and myself to deal with the house that we grew up in and all of its many belongings. Its "things", if you will. Emptying, and let me stress that word emptying, out a house - the house - that you are raised in is no easy task. Suddenly, everything your eye lands upon has sentimental value and you find yourself in overload very quickly. As a coping mechanism, you find yourself making snap decisions about things because you usually haven't the time, or emotional energy, to spend on these items. Because of that, things have a way of simply disappearing. I believe that that is how it was with many of the family photographs.

What I've noticed however, after the dust clears, perhaps, as in my case, years later, some of these things begin to haunt you. Some stray thought will trigger something and you find yourself focused on some little item that seemed tiny, unimportant, innocuous, and certainly taken for granted back then, now beaming in your mind's eye like a sun-struck treasure washed up on shore. You start to wonder about it. Where did it go? What ever could have happened to it? You ponder it for a moment or two as it haunts, but then, reluctantly, you open your hand and release it back into the void with a little sigh, accepting the fact that it is no longer a part of your world.

That's how it was with this photograph. As I wrote earlier, it had been haunting me for some reason most of last week. I could still see it as clear as day in my mind. But, I had taken for granted that it was gone, or at least, floating somewhere amongst the personal items of one of my siblings. But, we each lead our own rather busy lives, even if I were to find out that they did have this photo, did they have time to locate it and get a copy made and sent to me? Would it even be fair to ask? Would I have time to do the same if asked of me? Eventually, I let the ghost of the photograph go and moved onto to other things.

And then, lo and behold, here it is in my in-box. Mind you, I never mentioned my thoughts about the image to any of my siblings. In his email, my brother states that he has a handful of photos and that he plans to scan them all and email them to us like he did with the beach photo. It strikes me as wonderfully synchronistic that out of this handful of images, he happened to select as his first scan the one image that was haunting my thoughts for the last several days.

What can this mean? Could it be that this is some wonderful spirit message from my mother from beyond to her children? Could it mean that my brother is psychic and picked up on my vibe? Could it be that I'm telekinetic and mentally sent my brother my vibe? Could it mean all of those things or, on the other hand, could it mean absolutely nothing and just be a fluke? I have some very close friends who would agree to that ( hello Michael and Tony). But, I have more by far that would assign meaning to it. I fall in that category too of course. I'm just not sure what it means yet. In any event, all I know is that receiving it at 4:00 AM in my in-box made one artist who regularly gets up way too early very happy. Very happy indeed.

Thanks Nicholas!

TCM Investigates Pre-Code Hollywood...

If you're a classic film buff like myself, you'll be excited to learn about the upcoming documentary appearing on Turner Classic Movies this coming Monday evening ( March 4th) entitled Thou Shalt Not Sin. Prior to the enforcement of the Hays Code, movie studios tried rather successfully to get away with as much as possible in their productions in order to entice depression era audiences. Think of them as a 1930's combination of "Girls Gone Wild" and "Desperate Housewives" with a touch of "Scarface" in the mix.
I've seen several of the films mentioned in the mix including the odd "Night Nurse" where the young stars Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell spend a good bit of screen time undressing themselves and each other, then flit about giggling and discovering things like skeletons in the sheets...



I've not seen "Three on a Match" - featuring Bette Davis, Joan Blondell ( again) and Ann Dvorak - but after reading this little nugget of a description, I can't wait - "For a change, Joan Blondell doesn't sit on the edge of the bed, in her slip, rolling on a pair of stockings. Bette Davis does. By the way, this is the only picture I have ever seen where Bette Davis shamelessly displays her legs. And a fine set of legs at that. Look for the scene I just described as well as a scene at the beach. In another scene that would never have made it past the Hayes Office, Ann Dvorak comes out of the bedroom rubbing her nose when she realizes her son was kidnapped. Humphrey Bogart glances knowingly at the boys, rubs his nose, and sarcastically winks. A DOPE FIEND! There is a scene where she is passed out on the double bed. There is booze, cigarettes and ashtray on the bed, and a couple of cigars on the nightstand. In another scene she is splayed out on the couch with a drink in her hand, booze bottles all over the apartment when her little boy walks into the room. His face and clothes are filthy and he says he is hungry. She glances over at him, points to a tray of half eaten o'rdoevres, and says "eat that"."
Now, I ask you, where else but a film from the 1930's can you find an addicted, boozy, bimbo offering her hungry child a tray of half eaten party treats for dinner?


Well, besides that...

I'm pretty sure that the hays code keep a strong grip over Hollywood for a good 30 years, at least, until this amazing film came about, one of my all time faves I must admit....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061184/

"Uncle Henry"

"Uncle Henry", originally uploaded by sprouseart.

I know that today is "Self-Portrait Tuesday" and that Tuesday is almost over, but I wanted to post something anyway - even if it isn't a self-portrait. I felt like posting a scan of a particular Cabinet Card that I've had for many years. I've always been taken with the look of it. All that is written on the back in pencil are the words "Uncle Henry".

I don't know exactly when it was made, but I do know, based upon on old article in the Photographic Journal of America that the founder of the Bachrach studios began to use the name "Bachrach & Bros" in 1875 and did so until 1910. That fellow was David Bachrach ( at the age of 18, he was hired by Harper's Bazaar to cover Lincoln's address at Gettysburg. Thusly, he took the only known and confirmed photograph of Lincoln at Gettysburg).

Cabinet Cards were at their most popular from the late 1860's until the 1890's. The sepia tone of this card would make it an albumen print, which the majority of Cabinets were until the 1890's when "neutral image tone" cabinet cards became the norm. Based upon all of that info, I'm dating "Uncle Henry" anywhere from between 1875 and 1890.

The possibility that this image that I hold inb my hand today may have been taken by the man who took the only known photo of Lincoln at Gettysburg really blows my mind.

Three Family Members

Three family members, originally uploaded by sprouseart.

I picked this up many years ago on Ebay. It was one of those images that I just felt drawn to without a particular reason. Perhaps it was the expressions on the faces of the girl and the young man that made me choose it. Or maybe it is just the underlying immediateness of the image. I wasn't sure then and I still don’t know what it is exactly about the image that intrigues me. I do know that when I come across it in my collection, I always find myself lingering on it a bit longer than many of the others.

There is good balance to the composition of the photo even though the young male figure rises above the other two to the left. It flows well and is easy on the eye. I get the feeling based upon the body language and the posturing, that the young male has perhaps taken on a more important role in the family dynamic. All three, particularly the girl, gaze rather intently into the camera. These people all seem quite aware of themselves and their place in the world.

I have also always been intrigued by the fact that even though (through my own assumption) that these people are related in some way, there is no maternal figure represented. At first I thought that perhaps the mother or grandmother was behind the camera. But after studying the image more carefully, I changed my mind. They seem too arranged for that casual of a shot, plus, they are definitely posed before a large canvas backdrop. Also, they are dressed very smartly in clean, pressed clothing. This makes me think that they went somewhere to have this image made, or they were somewhere where proper attire was required ( perhaps a wedding or social function) where a photographer had set up outside. The boy and girl may be the older fellow’s children, his grandchildren, or even nephew and niece. I get the feeling though that they are motherless. Of course, I may be trying to impose too much of my own personal history on the photo.

I wish I knew more about this image, but I simply do not. I do know that it is a dived back photo postcard which would date it anywhere from March 1907 until about 1915. Though the printing on the back of the card is in English, this photo could have been made anywhere in the United States. The postcard is unused so I have no way of knowing where in the states it came from.

80th Annual Academy Awards

I spent the majority of the evening last night watching the 80th annual Academy Awards presentation. Wow. What a bore. I have seen, with perhaps the exception of possibly 3 productions, every Academy Award presentation since 1975 and I really found last night's to have been one of the most fizzless that I can recall.

Jon Stewart's hosting performance, which I always enjoyed thoroughly on the previous times that he hosted, seemed very low-key with one-liners that barely rose above forced giggle level. The presenters were low-energy as were most of the acceptance speeches. The performances for the Oscar nominated songs were forgettable with the exception of two, those being the performance of "Raise It Up" (music and lyric by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas for the film August Rush) and "Falling Slowly" ( music and lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova). Even though the performance of "Raise It Up" was somewhat compelling, it wasn't enough so in my opinion to "raise it up" over the now, in my opinion, increasingly tiresome cliches of the inner-city African American church choir belting out a song in that neo-gospel-American Idol style about the joys of using inner-strength to overcome hard times in the hood. Most of the dynamism from the performance came from the 11 year old Jamia Nash. Clearly, the girl is talented, but not unlike every other child belting out melismatic drivel with the hopes of becoming the next Mariah Carey.

The song "Falling Slowly" however, really rose above the fray. I was first turned onto this haunting ballad of hope months before I ever discovered that it was an Oscar nominee. I heard it streamed on some online indie-music station, fell in love with it, purchased it from I-Tunes for all of 99 cents, and have enjoyed it ever since. The two singer/songwriters, who also star in the film, were the highlight of the Awards. That and the unexpected win by Marion Cotillard for her spellbinding performance in the role of Edith Piaf in the film "La Vie En Rose". That was the other highlight of the Awards.



I first wrote about the amazing performance here last January
and it pleased me greatly that she won. Though, I must admit, part of me was hoping that Julie Christy, who was favored to win, would take away the Oscar. I think that I just liked the idea that the first (and so far the last) Oscar that she won was for her performance in the film "Darling" which was released the year I was born! I really like the idea that a performer can be so talented and still respected in the film industry that they can still be nominated for a best acting Oscar 43 years after their first win! This isn't easy in a industry that seems to value youth and looks over ability almost every time, particularly for a woman.



I hope that this means that the tides are beginning to turn a bit. The Oscar's hit 80 years old last night. Based upon last night's presentation, they showed every single year.

Pink Champagne Diet

Pink Champagne, originally uploaded by sprouseart.

Hmmm. Now this is an intriguing diet. Loose 40 pounds in 4 weeks drinking nothing but Pink Champagne eh? Well, chances are that she or he did loose 40 pounds - along with some other things, like their job, their significant others, their liver functionality, perhaps even their self-respect as they fell dazed and half dressed out of the back of a customized van in the parking lot of a Wall Mart in Topeka Kansas amid the hungover headache splitting sounds of empty Pink Champagne bottles clanking together and breaking into a million little shards of dark green glass atop the pavement.
But, I must admit, the idea of losing 40 pounds of bulging fat while partying for 4 weeks straight does sound tempting. In fact, I think this diet maybe more popular than you may think...