Sunday.. El Nino drips in

January 31, 2016
El Nino gets headlines up the Central Coast of California.  One of those beeping crawls across the TV Screen.  Not a deluge here.  The Monkees took HELP and ran with it, didn't they? 

POST ART / PRE RAIN? 1/30/16

January 30, 2016

Post LA Art Show.. 

Once a day Issai Tanaka prepares a gigantic panel and using sumi ink and a mop like brush, creates one kanji word.   4PM today at the 

Los Angeles Convention Center and then again tomorrow, Sunday 1/31/16 at 4. Wear comfortable shoes.  Parking on the other side of the freeway might be found.  Pico/Union is a notorious neighborhood, but I saw grannies w/ their kids and others who seemed right at home.  

WARNING.. WARNING!!  

There is a troll under the bridge!  
He sits in the middle of mounds of black trash bags and does not speak.  Living under a bridge, I wondered about where he went to the bathroom.. or even if trolls ever go to the bathroom.  There were no billy goats to be seen, so we can figure what his diet must be.  Yikes.

The LA Art Show covers acres of space.  The work ranges from the silly to the sublime.  I ran into Nancy Cartwright for a brief chat. She said that she's making art now.. paintings and sculptures.  I bragged to her friends what a terrific Trivial Pursuits player she was years ago when we were negotiating the first Animation Contract for SAG.   Long ago.

I used to think that Show Business was tough.  The Art World may be tougher.  The subjectivity of what 'art' is and what an artist might sell and why anyone would own any of it all turns on the tastes of rich folks who collect or some trippy artist like Banksy who just lays it out ... or Basquiat? Who get discovered? Damian Hirst?   How artists become darlings is a mystery, but if it moves you, then.. there ya go.   Of course, there are major personalities to be considered.  One of the most reviled 'artists' (to those who have strong opinions) rendered beautiful and quaint little village scenes that he reproduced and had a factory of helpers who added texture and points of 'light' to make them prettier.  Photo rendering and laying on of paint is 'art' to some.   Sometimes it's pretty.   I deliberately neglected to mention his name.  

Since shooting the porch photo above, we have some sun in Glendale!  The prediction of El Nino ˜~ um.. can't get the tilde over the 'n.'  Oh well. The prediction may come true, but right now, the sky is blue and the sun shines. 

January 30, 2016

michaelsheehan

FRIDAY! ART!! WHAT HAPPENED TO JANUARY?

January 29, 2016

They.. the weather folk.. say that rain is coming again.  Time to cover up the bus and hope the mad drivers will stay home on Sunday.   

Last night the Hawk gal and I had dinner at Dal Rae in Pico Rivera to honor our old friend, Ken Rugg.  Old Hollywood lives in Pico Rivera! Great service and great food served by Dawn.  A treat.  Linda received an Award of Merit.  She is a supportive and kind woman who always has the best interests of others at heart.  She is a generous lady!

When I called Rugg later last evening (Linda and I had tried and not gotten through right after dinner) he was playing Scrabble up in Inverness with his daughter, Shelley Rugg.  He sounded engaged and happy.  He recognizes my voice and we chat. Brings tears to my eyes.. He just turned 82! 

LA Art Show downtown is a huge undertaking.  Galleries from around the world present their artists.  Parking?  Yikes.. Free tickets! Yes.  Years ago, before the iPhone, I was one of the few videographers around and had the producer of the show wheel me around on a rolling chair to shoot the fair.  I wonder what happened to that 8mm tape? 

The Barker Hanger is full of Contemporary Art in Santa Monica.  Couldn't find free tickets... : o (

The Fremont Centre in South Pas features story telling Sunday at 7:30.  

1000 Fremont Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Tell Jill Remez that I sent you.  Free parking!  

And.. Orson Bean has revived his one person show at the Pacific Resident Theatre.  Review to follow.  

Rain?  Spring? What's next? 

michaelsheehan

January 29, 2016 

 

 

RUGG BIRTHDAY DINNER DAY

January 28, 2016

For many years the Hawk Gal and I have celebrated our birthdays with our good friend, Ken Rugg.  Rugg has moved up to Paradise.. aka Inverness, California, with his loving daughter Shelley Rugg.  I have known the Rugg family since the sixties and Rugg himself actually is responsible for helping to put me onto the pathway I've been so fortunate to be on for all these years. 

Rugg waiting for Bread Pudding at Mimi's

  

Actually, Rugg and Linda (Hawk Gal) were celebrating each others' birthdays for a while, just the two of them. Then I horned my way into the mix.  We've enjoyed lunches and dinners and a trip to Disneyland and The Medieval Times attraction and good times for more than twenty years.  Now that Rugg is far away, Linda and I will celebrate his day together; raise a glass and give him a call.  I miss him so much.. in so many ways.  

Last night I took the Jeopardy! test and answered about forty of the fifty questions.  It's tough!  I've passed the test in the past and never made it onto the show.  My ego gets involved and I just have to give it a shot.  The producers take a year to let you know if you've passed and if too many folks pass, it may come down to the luck of a draw.  If you have not passed, you just never know.   Sheesh.. 

Virgil wrote the Aeneid!   I forgot it on the test! Okay. maybe I never knew it in the first place... 

On another important note:   

Steve Julian: playwright, great KPCC radio guy, loving husband... has an inoperable cancerous brain tumor.  His wonderful wife, Felicia, has announced that they will stop treatment and spend time being alive instead of stressed by all the medical procedures that only prolong the Inevitable.  Felicia is articulate and kind and includes her current life with Steve with Facebook posts.  

Currently, I'm reading Alan Watts' book Tao: The Watercourse Way.   It provides insights regarding life and death from Eastern Thought that most of us in the West have a hard time accepting.  I hope that Felicia and Steve will find moments of joy and laughter and that we all will respect and honor their situation with love. 

January 28, 2016

michaelsheehan  

Wednesday Jeopardy Test Day!

January 27, 2016

It's Wednesday.  

Yesterday was a gorgeous spring day in Glendale. I took the cover off the bus and spent the day having lunch up in La Crescenta and then driving streets I've never explored here.  For years neighbors here in eclectic south Glendale / Adams Hill have lobbied the City to do something about speeding traffic.  One thing that seems to not work at all is called 'traffic calming.'  A dozen eletronic signs were erected around the city at the cost of $9,800.87.  E A C H! (The eighty seven cents always made me wonder.)   A stop sign costs about $200.00 to install.  The head of Glendale Transportation told me with a straight face that Stop Signs just don't work.  Well, I was on the phone with him, but he  sounded like he was was telling the truth.  As a person who stops for stop signs, I found it hard to believe.  

We've also lobbied for speed bumps to 'calm' traffic.  Can't remember the guy on the phone whom I asked about that, but his response was, "Oh, you mean 'ramps.'"  "Ramps?" I said. He went on to explain that they do not slow traffic either, so cars go air born off of them. 

My point.. driving around on the other side of town, north of the 134...  the scenic and expensive side of Glendale, I found the residential streets that were well traveled had speed bumps all over the place.  It was dangerous to try to drive faster than fifteen miles an hour.  There were lots of stop signs, too. This wasn't really a nuisance because the homes and trees are really beautiful.  I enjoyed driving along Mountain and then to Kenneth on the way to Brand Park. The point, of course, is that  apparently the City of Glendale caters  to the rich folks in ways it seems to  disregard in  other neighborhoods.  

Of course, my grousing about it won't make much difference.  And, I'm glad that the pedestrians who walk those neighborhoods are safe.  I just wish that there was a bit of parity here in the southerly climes of our town.  

Just reread this diatribe. You made it this far!  Pretty boring.. Unless, of course, you try to make a turn onto Adams Street where parked cars block your vision and the laughable speed limit of 25mph is seldom observed as drivers speed up the hill. 

 January 27, 2016

michaelsheehan

Dienstag 1/26/sixteen

January 26, 2016

 At this time of day I sometimes practice reading lips by watching The Price is Right.  Just watched a woman miss out on a $51,000 Audi.  I am not a fan of new cars, but this one was really beautiful. 

I am still spinning from the terrific ninetieth birthday party for Johnny Gunn I had the pleasure of attending on Saturday and then a very interesting evening at the movies at the DGA on Sunday, seeing Remember with Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau.  

Today will be a day in the bus

doing errands and having a nice lunch somewhere in Montrose.  All my pithy ideas are laying low right now.  It might be because I'm reading Alan Watts' Tao: The Watercourse Way.  Watts died before the book was finished.  

His friend and collaborator Al Chung-Liang Huang discusses how they worked together on it.  Al's calligraphy is included, as well as discourse on the flowing of calligraphy and the flow of life.   Going with 'the flow' is more an Eastern thought than a Western one.  Seems that mostly we need to emulate the salmon and fight our way upstream.  Of course, THAT is how the salmon survive... unless.. of course.. there are bears.  A song, Opening Farewell by Jackson Brown, sung by my friend, Michael Johnson, has the lyric "... There's a train every day, leavin' either way... there is a world to know..."  

We do have choices, don't we?

And, THAT reminds me of the night that Jackson's brother, Severin, was performing a late night show at The Company Theatre on La Cienega. I was running lights.  Suddenly, there was someone climbing up the ladder into the booth! Off Limits!!  It was Jackson. He didn't want to steal the limelight from Severin.  One story leads to another...   and...  life goes on.

January 26, 2016

michaelsheehan

SUNNY MUNDI January 25, 2016

January 25, 2016

Uh oh..  the system is doing odd things again.   Or maybe it's me?  Spending half an hour trying to post yesterday while watching the Broncos squeek by the Patriots was pretty frustrating.  We'll see how this works out. 

"Remember" a fine little Atom Agoyan film with Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau (and chilling Dean Norris from  Breaking Bad) is a beautifully acted film released at exactly the wrong time for 2016 Awards.  I hope that at least the SAG Awards will remember it in nine months.  All this recent talk about 'diversity' focussed on folks who are black or brown or .  What about folks with wrinkles?  Age discrimination is less obvious and this year for awards we do have, at least the beautiful Charlotte Rampling up for an Oscar along with Stallone.  It is a shame that Will Smith was ignored for Concussion and Michael B. Jordan for Creed, as well.  As for The Academy, white male members well over sixty years of age rule the day, so that's probably the answer to that question.  For SAGAFTRA to not see the value in those performances might come down to just missing seeing the films? I have asked repeatedly how SAG Awards chooses the "nom-comm" and have been ignored.  I did hear years ago that there are three 'divisions' from SAGAFTRA: One third from the Film Society, one third from the general membership and one third from some elite group that is undefined.  They won't disclose how many actors are actually on the nominating committee, which seems to me to be less than transparent. Of the over 160,000 members of SAGAFTRA, I don't know if SAG Awards discloses how many actually vote.  In general elections, it's often less than thirty percent of eligible voters. 

What we should remember is that for  both the Oscars and the SAG Awards, only actors are nominating actors.  Only actors are voting for actors. I still wonder why the women have demoted themselves to the term 'female actor' for the SAG Awards.  If I was a woman, I'd be proud to be an "actress" but might bristle at 'starlet' which always rang a bit sexist.  Oh well.   

Discrimination, of course, is what all awards are about.   Of course, it's wonderful to be nominated...  Remembering Michael Keaton putting his prepared speech back in his pocket at the last Oscars only to sit back down is moving to me.  He's got a shot this year with Spotlight. My choice for Oscar. I voted for Spotlight for the SAG Awards.  We'll see soon!

El Nino (I am tilde ignorant.. sorry, but LOVE TildA Swinton) is either lying in wait or may be a bust.  We have the double whammy of being in a drought and at the same time very concerned for the mudslide/flood conditions that smack So Cal silly even when it rains a little bit. Still beats living in a trailer park in Oklahoma. 

Back to "Remember."  If the "Pawscars" or the "Patsys" are still giving awards to animal stars of the movies, the German Shepard in this film is mostly bark  over, but on camera is incredibly terrifying.  Acting wise, he plays dead very well, too. 

January 25, 2016

michaelsheehan 
P.S.   On a sunny day in the afternoon the hill across the way brightens up.  The "Shoe Factory" the large gray home that seems to be ready for a bout with the big green gorilla is easier to see and so is the Big Guy.  This close up emphasizes the details of the other shots that will comprise the installation.  I love my view of Adams Hill.

Big Green Gorilla vs. The Shoe Factory

 

Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY January 24, 2016

January 24, 2016
 The system reduces the size of this text every time I try to edit it! Yikes.  Hope we can read this.

Broncos / Pats as the first quarter counts down: 7 to 6 Denver!  Huge pass play for Broncs.  A Denver fan reports that the 'weather' is coming.  The start of the game with a bad rendition of The Star Spangled Banner by a guy I'd never heard of (no surprise there) in full sun is now clouding over.  Coloradoans know that things can change in the blink of an eye.  Shadows are less crispy. Pats start a drive on the 14 yard line. Brady almost sacked at the 4!!  Brady throws!!!

INTERCEPTION!!  at the 16! First and ten at the 16! Second play Manning connects with Daniels for the second Broncos touchdown of the game.  

Cut to the sidelines and the coaches consulting iPads is a trip.  No more drawing plays on the chalk board or in the dust!

SATTIDY JAN 23, 2019

January 23, 2016

The graydays sometimes get to me.  Then, just now checking the gossip on Facebook, I saw some gray food.  The post said it was fresh caught trolled albacore, but it was just gray grey glop.  Often I wonder why folks post phood photos on Phacebook..  

This, of course, signals that the gray day, the gray view from the porch and the interest in criticizing grey food have me pretty much feeling uncreative.  My dream about Betty White and her excruciating back pain and stealing a funny pop top bottle of root beer from a disrespectful kid may have come from cranking down the thermostat last night.  Phil Proctor, in his publication "Planet Proctor" had some undocumented statistics that happened to coincide with my experience: sleeping in a cold room.  I'm gonna try it again tonight and pay closer attention to my dreams, if I remember them.  I'd like to meet the little honey I was protecting from the rude kid again and find out if Betty survived her back attack.  Are there serial dreamings?

Please stand by for a rave review for Theatre 40's production of "THE MANOR"  currently roaming the halls of Greystone (The Doheny Mansion in Beverly Hills). www.onstagelosangeles.blogspot.com

January 23, 2016

michaelsheehan

JAN 22 SIXTEEN RUGG'S BIRTHDAY!

 January 22, 2017

Today is the natal day of a great friend, Kenneth W. Rugg.  I'd have included his middle name (Weatherly) but I'm unsure how he spells it. The image below is a work in progress that features his mug that is typical of the energy and the intelligence of this incredible man.  He's 82 today and is living now with his darling daughter, Shelley, up in Marin County.  

Having spent the majority of his artistic life in Long Beach as a professor of theatre at CSULB  (where I met him in the sixties!), his creative approach to the arts has expanded the spirits and imaginations of hundreds (if not thousands by extension) of actors, writers, producers, directors, musicians and audiences around the world.  This may sound like hyperbole but in fact he has taught or worked with folks who include  Tony winners, as well as others who have gone on to create new theatre and art for the past fifty years!  

He is my friend.  Having met this guy, the depth and breadth of my experience as a creative person have become the most important opportunities anyone could wish for.   I love you, Rugg! Thank you for your gift of theatre, art, music and friends. Happy Birthday!     

_________________________

BUT    WAIT!!!    THERE'S MORE!! 

Tomorrow, we celebrate the ninetieth birthday of Johnny Gunn.  The big Nine OH! X C (as in excellent!) After arriving in  Hollywood long ago, one of my first friends in the voice over community  was John Chalmers Gunn.  Through his warmth and patience I found myself rubbing elbows with some of Hollywood's most recognizable folks.  He likes to think of himself as a 'mensch!'  In fact he is the epitomy of menschiness.  He picks up the lunch check.  He sends funny snail mail.  He still writes regularly and loves old movies. He shares himself and his thoughts with such generosity that we all could take a lesson from him. Tomorrow we celebrate with a bevy of family and friends (courtesy of his equally generous and menschly daughter, Gloria and her family) to toast this guy's natal day.  (It's actually on Christmas Day, but things were busy then, so... tomorrow, it is.)  

Happy Birthday to YOU, Johnny Gunn!  

Here's to many more.

You, too, Ruggala!!!

No one could be more lucky than I am... to have these guys for my friends.  Yay! 

January 22, 2016

michaelsheehan 

New theatre reviews on 'onstagelosangeles' starting next week! 

 

THURSDAY 1/21/16

January 21, 2016

The Pasadena Museum of Art has free admission after five.  Dedicated to Contemporary Art, this little engine is showing established artists like Lita Albuquerque (who opens at USC on 1/26) of whom I am a fan.  It's California art!  

Sending good vibes to Steve Julian.

Waiting for some good news. Film at.. well.. later, not at Eleven. 

Orson Bean has re-upped his one man show at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice.  Review to follow at onstagelosangeles.  Reviewing The Manor at The Doheny Mansion tomorrow.  The new season of theatre is upon us.  See a play this week! 

january 21, 2016

michaelsheehan

WEDNESDAY 1/20/16

January 20, 2016

Late report.  Busy day.  Dentist! AAA!! Hey!

Found Woody Allen's 1973 SLEEPER on THIS TV just now.  We have several sub channels here that are showing classic TV shows and classic movies, too.  If you don't consider early Woody Allen 'classic..'  Cancel your subscription!  The beauty of  Allen's work, to me, is that his voice is booming in every scene. Not the voice from his body, but the writing.  SLEEPER is just silly, of course and that's the appeal for me.  The classic scene in the Bronson Caves where he and Diane Keaton find a rusty old VW bug that starts on the first turn makes me laugh every time.  Sad thing is that later the car goes over a cliff.  What a prize it would be today. 

My friend, Ken Rugg's, birthday is on Friday.  I miss seeing him like anything.  He'll be 82.  We used to celebrate each other's birthdays with our friend, Linda, the Hawkgal.  Since he's been relocated up to Marin County, she and I try to have lunch or dinner in his honor down here.  There's more to this story that I may report one day.  Rugg was one of those incredible guys who inspired hundreds of students as a college professor.  We did childrens' theatre: Merrie Masquers together for two years.  He introduced me to the mountain dulcimer through CapriTaurus: his brothers: Howard and Michael.  Changed my life forever.  Ditto with The Company Theatre so long ago.  Great people.  Great adventures. Good Times...

January 20, 2016

michaelsheehan

TUESDAY 1/NINETEEN/SWEET SIXTEEN

January 19, 2016

I usually have the TV on for company when sitting here.  A guy is selling a pillow for twenty bucks that has a sixty day guarantee!  I saw another commercial for a non-stick frying pan that would work, guaranteed!!  for thirty days.   Planned obsolescence!?  Yikes.

Having been taken to task on FB (sorta) by someone who knows Hollywood History better than I do (not really a skill).. I got a bit snarky.  The distance from Sunset to Selma north along Vine is about five hundred feet.  Somewhere in that area DeMille may have shot The Squaw Man. I thought so because years ago when the bank was Home Savings, I saw a plaque that credited the movie at Sunset and Vine.  The historian said that it was at Sunset and Selma!  Of course, the exact GPS location is not all that relevant ... to me! 

I have now been reduced to being snarky to a perfectly nice guy who knows much more about Hollywood History than I.   Sheesh.. 

And, NOW.. I am reduced to watching Crispin Glover and Keanu Reeves in a silly low budget film: River's Edge!  

Ahhh. Hollywood!  

January 19, 2016

michaelsheehan

JANUARY 18, MONDAYGREY

January 18, 2016

The grey days.. the gray days.. the days with no sun.. please go away.  Or rain! That would be good.. dump a little moisture on us and make us green again.

Last night I had the pleasure of sitting with about fifty friends of the Coeurage Theatre Company and friends of Steve Julian for a reading of Head Over Heels, a series of mostly monologues read by women, including 'Eve'.. you know.. "that" Eve.. the first woman we are led to believe who popped full blown into the Garden.  Clever writing and terrific performances were preceded by Steve's lovely wife, Felicia Friesema, who has become an expert caretaker, discussing the current situation with her husband' condition.  

The event was a fund raiser.  A dear friend of mine was slightly cynical about the situation and I found myself defending it because I know that even nickels and dimes can help even when insurance is kicking in.  However, the main reason for this event was for the company members and friends and relatives to gather in an artsy setting (Lankershim Arts Center is home to art gallery shows and the Coeurage Theatre Company as well as the Road Theatre).. to hear the play that Steve and Felicia happened to attend when they were first seeing each other some years ago.   The camaraderie was palpable.  The audience was happily responsive.  Felicia read a heart felt message that left us sad and connected. Donations were requested, but, in fact, the evening was more about coming together to celebrate Art and Life.  

That Steve recognizes Felicia only off and on now is a fact. His grasp of words fails as the cancer advances.  That she is steadfast and true is what we should all be to ourselves and to those whom we care about and love.  That we are all on the track to the sunset is a fact. Seeing this family working together on behalf of a really wonderful man is realistic and kind and thoughtful.  

I met Steve as a fan of KPCC/89.3FM where he held forth as the morning man for many years.  We had lunch and chatted.  His play Ribbons of Life came to life in a staged reading for the Hollywood Fringe Festival a couple of years ago, cementing my notion that the guy has a handle on writing a play and I really appreciated that.  I am so sorry that our plan to lunch again and chat will probably not come to pass.  I am enriched by the brief time I've spent with him and his work.  I admire Felicia immensely and really hope that her notes and deep feelings will all be recorded if for no other reason than to maybe help others who may face such difficult circumstances.  

Hold a good thought.

January 18, 2016

michaelsheehan

 

SUNDAY 1/17/16

January 17, 2016

Sometimes the sky across the valley is just boring; this in contrast to days when some actual weather rolls in.  Lining the images up really emphasizes the subtle differences.  The 'witch' in the upper right hand corner seems to have a partner edging in.

Hill Street Blues continues on Decades.  The precinct continues to fall apart.  Personality differences collide.  Manual typewriters and dial telephones.  My old friend, Eugene W. Jackson, Jr., who supported his family as an actor from the age of about five as an early member of Our Gang, plays a guy loading a truck in this episode.  His son, Eugene III is like a brother to me.  

Interested in Contemporary Art?  Copy and paste this link for free tickets. 

http://www.danielrolnikgallery.com/blog/2015/12/20/guide-to-the-la-art-show-2016

January 17, 2016

michaelsheehan

 

JANUARY 16 SATURDAY

January 15, 2016  GOOGLE IS BURPING.  
Hope this posts!

There's a local TVchannel called Decades. It may be nationwide. Today I stumbled into either the pilot or an early episode of Hill Street Blues. In 1981 Joe Spano as Henry Goldblum has hair and otherwise, looks exactly as he looks today.  The huge cast was a brave step. Seeing this show with old eyes and trying to remember how these then unfamiliar faces felt when I first saw the show in 1981. Bochco has such a flair for the dramatic! The show ran for six years.  

Veronica Hamel (Public Defender Joyce Davenport) is so hot that on her first high heel traipse through the precinct she turns every single head ..  including Betty Thomas's!  No personal radios.  Pay phones to communicate. Bobby Hill (Michael Warren) and Renko (cowboy Charlie Haid) stumble into a "shooting gallery" and wind up in intensive care after their police car (the second one this week!) disappears when they return to the street from a domestic disturbance call.  

Hill Street was a "by appointment" one hour drama that took twists and turns that brought this huge cast into a gazillion living rooms.   Ahead of its time, Furillo's ex-wife (Bochco's wife, Barbara Bosson) storms in to berate Frank about a bounced child support check and announces "Frank Jr.'s" gender issues because his father is a cop! Ahead of its time! 

The anchor of the show was the incredible Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (the beloved Michael Conrad: "Let's be careful out there") whose maturity and kindness ... the eye of the storm of the busy precinct..  is engaged to a high school senior with a 'solid B average!' was a favorite.  

It's a beaut of a day!  

January 16, 2016

michaelsheehan

FRIDAY 1/15/16

If I actually make an installation using a year's worth of images from my porch: The Porch Project, I hope it will be as interesting to whomever sees it as it's becoming to me.  I see these images in thumbprints on my desktop and the subtle and sometimes dramatic changes, especially in the sky, are fun.  Developing a whole new perspective and appreciation for where I live.

If you click on the photos, they enlarge a bit, helping with detail.  The auto exposure on this little camera tends to make the shadows deepen, which is okay I guess.  It's the silhouettes that create positive and negative space: the gorilla, the monster and the witch's hat (which is looking more like an Italian Spruce ..  my friend, Lee Arnone, and I used to call them 'rich people trees' because we saw them in the yards of expensive homes) is emerging a little.

I learned a new word today: constellate!  
Love when that happens:

con·stel·late

ˈkänstəlāt/

verb

literary

verb: constellate; 3rd person present: constellates; past tense: constellated; past participle: constellated; gerund or present participle: constellating

form or cause to form into a cluster or group; gather together.

 

Pass it on!

January 15, 2016

michaelsheehan

THURS JAN FOURTEEN SIXTEEN

January 14, 2016
The subtle differences in these clouds and the slight differences in the trees are now more apparent to me.  The critter 'menacing' the gorilla is looking a bit like a T Rex now and that pointy hat witch got a nose today that I'd not noticed before. 

Watched Straight Outta Compton last night and though it is very hard to watch and a cast list program or a score card to keep track of which NW Attitude we were seeing might have helped me, it's a dynamic and strong polemic that indicts the LA Police, indeed all cops, painting with a broad brush, but if the Rodney King trial is any indication, that brush isn't so broad after all. Insights into the rise of hip hop and rap 'music' comes in huge bites. 

An actor pal was raving about BROOKLYN in a FB post and I found it a snooze.  Granted that Saorise Ronan is a lovely and nuanced actress, but the film, itself, was not invigorating.. to me.  That's what makes a horse race..and an Oscar contest, too.  Part of the problem with Oscar these days is that when you have eight Best Picture Contenders that are so incredibly different, it becomes 'apples and oranges' or Mars vs. 1800's Canada .. very difficult to compare.  Why wasn't Ridley Scott was not mentioned as director of The Martian? The Revenant is epic, of course.  

On the radio today the film editor (I think) from the Hollywood Reporter had a chat w/ Larry Mantle on KPCC.  I cannot find the woman's name... but her voice was so annoying that I wannnnnnnnnted to caaaaaaaaaaaall up Larrrrrrrrrry and tellllll himnnnnnn to dump her!  She was annoyingly nasal and ..  well.. just annoying.  Thank goodness she is a journalist and an on air personality.  

What do you think?  Charlotte Rampling for 45 Days just for old time's sake and Stallone for Creed for the same reason?  

hug someone..  

January 14, 2016
michaelsheehan

 

WEDNESDAY 1/13

January 13, 2016
I wrote this last night after the State of the Union Address.  Almost didn't find the draft!  But, here are a few comments about what I saw:
 
It's hard to resist commenting on the guy in the red tie in tonight's State of the Union Address that showed me what a fine person our President is.  I so resist politics, but this is beyond politics and I need to mention 'tone.'  We all have a tone that is dictated by our essential persona. It's tone of voice. It is posture and body language. It is eye contact. It is being present. It is being respectful. It is the essence of each of us as individuals as well as the extended 'family' we may choose to be a part of.. via any part of life:  blood, neighbors, colleagues, acquaintances, K Mart shoppers.. or Neiman-Marcus? Or McDonald's or Trader Joe's?  The list is pretty much endless.  The vibe in each of these situations ebbs and flows.

Watching that man sitting behind the President last night was disturbing. In his red tie  deliberately dismissing the President with his blank expression spoke volumes about him and his ilk.  It was the  equivalent of a jerk standing behind another person and making faces to mock them.  President Obama's call to action is a call that is hard for most of us to imagine.  The Occupy Movement and the marches in the sixties and seventies are difficult to organize. And, what good they do may take time for the ripples to reach proportions that will make a change or help our country.  I don't know how to do that.  It's frightening to think that people like the guy in the red tie really and truly believe that their answers will work.  I could not watch the South Carolina woman for more than a minute.  "TONE!?".. Her inability to read from the teleprompter; her lockjawed rhetoric; her deer in the headlights stare literally made me just escape.  It's been said that one cannot make war on an ideology.  And, that may be what the United States is up against in these dark days looming before us.  

Listen to the tone of those aspire to lead our country.  Their words may say one thing, but their presentation is undeniable.   Feel the 'tone' of this: my observation.  Some may find it offensive. Not my intention.  Some may find it informative.  It's just my point of view. I sometimes take it for granted that what I've observed and understand.. or think I do.. is understood by everyone.  Of course, that's silly. Naive.  Yes.. that's me. I'm naive enough to think that common sense might prevail. 

Of course, Love is the Answer.  Love is the Opening Door.  Do you know what I mean?

January 13, 2016

michaelsheehan