Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
The Great American Soup!
1970 commercial for The Great American Soup featuring Ann Miller. Reminiscent of 1930s musical production numbers by Busby Berkeley. Conceived and directed by Stan Freberg, music by The Billy May Orchestra, featuring Dave Willock as the husband. Budgeted at $154K, the commercial took over four weeks to produce. It was the most expensive TV advertisement ever produced up to that point. While fondly remembered it didn't help sell much soup.
Thanks to Jesse Archer for the inspiration
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Pretty In Pink
I love 'restacking' brightly colored party napkins...
I learned last week that earplugs have gender... I couldn't resist..
Girly protection against excessive decibels....
Think Pink! I think my favorite colors are pinks and purples. Also blues, especially sky and aquamarine hues...
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
Happy Birthday, Deena!
A photographic salute to my very cool sister!
Deena at a surprise birthday dinner for our Mom...
Deena and I go WAY back.... Here we are absorbed by Saturday morning cartoons in early 1967...
Very early Deena photo...
Here we are, the Holsberg siblings immortalized in art...
We rode through Central Park in a carriage last October...
Back in Summer 2006, in the Chelsea night...
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Grand Opening II
The other exhibit whose debut I saw last Friday with David and Daniel was MARS-1's 'Nuclear Mystic,' which manages to be psychedelic, busy and a bit too precious : - ) Like Nouar, it runs through March 21 at Jonathan LeVine, 529 W 20th 9th floor-E, btw 10th & 11th.
...and vaguely vaginal.... MARS-1 is the monicker chosen by Mario Martinez, who aims for 'urban-Gothic, sci-fi abstracted, quasi-organic form... like the sentient ocean of 'Solaris'
I rather prefer his 'sculptures,' including this grey town worthy of a Tim Burton animation...
...these spacemen sculptures also caught my fancy...
Refreshments resting with a cactus leaf... ...and a gaggle of artworld-istas converge around the non-luxuriant refreshments..
Speaking of Solaris, here's three minutes from that Russian classic by Tarkovsky.. a scientist's dead wife brought to life by a sentient ocean...
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Grand Opening I
This past Friday night I went to a gallery opening with David - his friend Daniel is the manager there. There are two shows opening there, today we look at 'Nouar - You Look Good Enough To Eat!.' It runs through March 21 at Jonathan LeVine on the ninth floor of 529 W 20th St, between 10th & 11th...
Nouar's art is inspired by illustrations of early 1900s children's books (ie Oz series) and of commercial drawings. Her focus is anthropomorphic food, (ie human form and features on something not human - I learned this word from an article on the cartooon 'Underdog'),
It's the lemonade parade! The pink frame is kind of groovy...
Holy Octuplets!
This, clearly, was not a meat industry advertisement... : - )
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Monday, February 23, 2009
Quirky Critically-Cuddled Collective
...Time to party like it's 2009.... Today's Song of the Week is the first to arrive copyright® 2009, released in January to critical acclaim, though certainly recorded in 2008... It's the ethereal but meaty 'My Girls' by Animal Collective, the avant garde combo from Baltimore that grabbed music critics' attention in 2003 and never let it go. Their new CD is not only their highest-quality yet, but their most accessible, instantly likeable work, a welcome surprise from a group known for challenging forays combining indie rock, neo-psychedelia, 'freak folk,' 'noise pop', and experimental (i.e., enough to scare the be-Jesus out of a casual music listener..)... Not this time! Just watch and listen to 'My Girls, ' a visually stunning animated clip...
The group members have funny, funky pseudonyms - Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, and Geologist - they are pictured left.... The foursome have been friends since grade school in Baltimore County... They wanted to call themselves 'Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, and Geologist' but their record company begged them to choose something more unifying and less long-winded, some they chose Animal Collective, a tribute to their old label Animal Records.. Avey Tare comes from 'tearin'g apart the name Davey. Geologist is named for the headlamp he wears to see the electronics during their live shows..... Their musical work defies description, but their videos are always artsy and worth watching...Here's 'Peacebone'....
and here's 'Fireworks..'
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Sunday, February 22, 2009
Thomas & Vagner are back from São Paulo (to Buenos Aires). Take a gander at his blog for some noteworthy snapshots thereof.. The contrasts in this Osasco photo are rather brilliant...
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I'm eating one of Murray's Bagels' new 'health bagels' for lunch. It's pretty decent... says BlogScoop: "It had the right chewiness and a wonderful nuttiness, without the dryness that many whole wheat or grain bagels have." I wonder how many calories less it is.. They say a bagel has more calories than a muffin... grrr...
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Merlot and Matzoh Ball
G'mrng. Slowly regaining consciousness here :-) Last night saw folk-rockers Noah and the Whale in deepest Williamsburg with Christi, more on that later today. About to shower up and help carry six outsize pillows to the needy. I'm feeling ever better, but on, Friday, I truly needed both Merlot and Matzoh Ball Soup... I think the diner's green neon sign is reflected in the soup. Those hands are part of my friend David.
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Saturday, February 21, 2009
Abrahack Lincbama
Camera in hand, back in business! I saw this arresting composite of our 16th and 44th Presidents last night in the kitchen of Jonathan LeVine art gallery on W 20th in between 10th & 11th. It's one of a series of Obama/Lincoln blends that gradually shift from all Obama to all Lincoln..
It's crispy outside but sunny. I'm feeling mostly better. I ate this plate clean last night, an above-average tasting heaping serving of diner barbecued chicken..
Here's a close-up of the same... Glittery, ain't it..
A boy needs his vegetables, you know... Again, rather splendiferously fresh for diner fare...
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Well, I got my memory! So Aaron the Photographer is back... I'll have photos from last night shortly - went to a diner & a gallery opening with David, and froze my artiste butt off get snapping panoramic nighttime views from the 11th floor roof deck while others smoked...
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Friday, February 20, 2009
ok, just managed to step on my expensive glasses, break them, and wound my naked left foot (superficially). we're off to great start today.. :-) well, at least this will make my favorite 15-year old laugh....
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If I Had A Camera...
...or if my memory arrived today, and could use the Sony CyberShot DSC-T77 I picked up Sunday... If I Had A Camera.....
I'd camera in the moooooooorning
I'd camera in the eeeeeeeeveniiiiiiiing
All over this laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand
And so on... in the mood for another folk classic?
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Thursday, February 19, 2009
Juan Domingo
From Thomas' blog, from the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden, it's Perón himself. Will I, like him, rise from the ashes mañana after a week of toil and ear wars? For the answer to these and other questions, tune in tomorrow.
Same Bat-time. Same Bat-channel.
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I'm Better, and It's Snowing
My junior colleague Mr. Wiske points out that it's very rainy snow. My ear is no longer hurting or stuffed up, I think, cross my fingers and toes...
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Meanwhile, Down in Paraná...
Thomas and Vagner took the 35 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to São Paulo... When they crossed the border into Parana state, they didn't wait long to have Vagner's favorite snack, a coxinha (co-shee-nya), which is minced chicken and spices buried in wheat flour batter and deep fried... it means 'little thigh'.
The whiter snack is their cheese bread, or Pão de Queijo and Skol is a popular beer. Thomas' photography is a joy and you should check both his blogs, professional and personal, at least once a week, for a visual treat...
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Publication going out... Ear trouble coming in... I worked 12 hours straight to put the monster together for publishing tomorrow. with a blue rubber stop in my right ear to protect it. I like rubber stops - I'll have to order a whole series of colors... : - ) Time to go lie down & relax. Cheers...
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Self-explanatory. From Lisbon, via the blog of my good friend Milton, who's studying in Barcelona...
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Monday, February 16, 2009
There's No Need To Fear...
No, Underdog is not here... : - ) When I e-mailed this week's song, 'House Jam,' I abbreviated its creators, delightful and highly respected indie artists Gang Gang Dance, as 'GGD,' - I didn't want to scare my casual fan with images of pounding club music, which Gang Gang Dance most certainly isn't. With it's odd melody-driven midtempo ambient groove, this is certainly music for listening to... The group, oddly, calls their sweet, swaying sound 'neo-tribal' or 'neo-primitivist,' and some of the chanting and instrumentation elsewhere on the album do add a touch of those elements...You must watch this clip from Tokyo of the Gang delivering an awesome live performance of 'Jam'... it's smooth as East Asian silk...
We don't know much about GGD, except that they're Manhattan-based, record on The Social Registry records and tapes, and have played well-received warm-up shows to celebrated avant garde and electronica artists such as TV On The Radio, Animal Collective, and Architecture in Helsinki...I discovered them when I surveyed music critics' best-of-2008 lists over Xmas break...
Here's a little 3-minute modern dance performance art that GGD soundtracked...
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Sunday, February 15, 2009
Maybe..
...today will be the day I replace my broken camera...
Me at MOMA at the Head of the Month...
...a month ago I had this awesome salad made to order at Whole Foods on Houston St, after seeing 'Waltz With Bashir' with David.. It contained caramalized onions, seaweed salad, spinach leaves, and many other goodies...
Did you floss today? (presuming you have teeth..) from MOMA...
...but I like you just the way you are!
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Saturday, February 14, 2009
well I'm still sick, but it's sunny and warm out... and I'm not going to hide indoors for 3 days... no-sir-ee....
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I Flatter Myself
To think my readers will take six minutes from their busy day to watch an animated short just because I think it's kinda purrty.. From Russia with love, it's 'Wind Along The Coast' from 2003 by Ivan Maximov,,,
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Friday, February 13, 2009
Well, I'm going into the 3-day weekend with my massive publication nearly done, but I was unable to shake the ear/throat bug.. Thus, two holiday weekends in a row spent nursing myself back to health... Leaving out the foul language, nothing further to say on that topic... It'll be nice to catch up on my audio-reading and Netflix, though...
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
In Hoc Signo Vinces
I read this phrase in 'A Child's History of the World,' in the East Meadow Public Library, as a lad..Much later, New York magazine had a contest for the best incorrectly translated foreign expression. This was translated as 'Vinnie pawned his ring.' :-)
In the same issue, 'Hava Nagila' was mis-translated as 'the lizard's on me....'
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Splendor Below
Mexico City: Aerial view of The Palace of Fine Arts, one of the city's wonders. The building is famous for both its extravagant Beaux Arts exterior in imported Italian Carrara white marble and its murals by Mexican muralists masters Rivera, Tamayo, Siqueiros, and Orozco. This was taken by my friends Joost and Ronald from Netherlands in 2006. Joost's travel albums are very good! You can slideshow them for yourself on his Picassa page.
Here's Joost in Cuba four months ago. He can travel there legally! With Obama in office, soon maybe I'll one day do the same!
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Slush (Not Slush)
No doubt about it - my camera done broke... I needs me a new one...
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Monday, February 09, 2009
Joan Of Art-Rock
It's getting ever harder to resist the odd but endearing voice of violinist-singer-songwriter Joan Wasser, who sings, like lemon juice aged in clover honey, under the delicious moniker 'Joan As Police Woman...' Today's song and video is her latest and most affecting performance ever, the off kilter 5am ballad 'To Be Loved...'Joan is 38 and is a veteran back-up musician and singer who's worked with indie icons Rufus Wainwright and Anthony and the Johnsons as well as rock legends Lou Reed and Elton John and pop superstar Sheryl Crow...
She's also a prominent 'rock widow', as her then-boyfriend, the talented Jeff Buckley, tragically drowned in Memphis 12 years ago...
favorite Joan quotes: 'beauty is the new punk rock' and ''with such distrust in the air, for me, the most subversive you can be these days is to be totally honest, and to really laud beauty....
favorite Joan quotes: 'beauty is the new punk rock' and ''with such distrust in the air, for me, the most subversive you can be these days is to be totally honest, and to really laud beauty....Her latest single is arresting, no pun intended, as is the accompanying video clip, mostly of her photographed in artsy lighting. What a presence she has!
This video's even more creative, in a do-it-yourself kind of way - it's beach time with her heretofore best known song, 'Eternal Flame...'
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Sunday, February 08, 2009
My camera done broke. It was actually the camera of Thomas' very interesting late mom, Laurel Locke Hobbs.. I'll miss using a camera once owned by such a singular person... Thomas, who lives in Argentina with Vagner, is currently with Vagner in his native Sao Paulo, Brazil...
So it's off to Best Buy I go? Another Sony Sure-Shot? Recommendations?
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Get Animated
Last night I saw a delightful program of Oscar-nominated short animated films at IFC theater on 6th Ave & Waverly, where I was entertained by 10 awesome animated shorts in less time than the 40% of Benjamin Button I had slept through in December...
Here for your pleasure is the shortest film on that program, the 2:25 minutes 'Oktapodi', in which Octopus love conquers (nearly) all..
My favorite was the undertaker slapstick of 'This Way Up,' 10 side-splitting minutes! Here's a great one minute preview:
Something not on the program: here's some lovely animation in a trailer for the Swedish short 'Never Like The First Time..'
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Saturday, February 07, 2009
It's My Party: The Ambiance
Here, while showing unposed people pictures, we intersperse photos the try to capture the decor, the spirit, and the refreshments of that lovely evening... First, the scene is set....
I put out a dazzling array of tasty refreshments, and Erik has to go eat my decorations... harrumph!
At left, Moshe, who I only knew from facebook, brought South Asian sweets.. At right, you know how I get with streamers...
I wanted to spell my name in candles, and my name is more common these days, but Dean & Deluca was fresh out of 'Aaron' - so I assembled the five letters by purchasing 'Angela' and 'Courtney' - but the only thing I could spell with those remaining candles I managed not to break was 'Git Lucy' - maybe that's 'Get Lucky' pronounced by a man whose lost most his teeth..
At left, Aaron gets his glitter hat on... at right, revelers captured in mid-revel... note what I did with the pink and purple napkins.. isn't it groovy?
I'm very big on ambient video at my parties. That means interesting looking DVDs with the sound turned off...
All good things must come to an end... In the background... Pictures of me, my parents, my teddy bear, and Jaipur's palace of the winds... Also, a vast collection of 'teach yourself' language books... the red-eyed folk are my friends & colleagues, Bevan and John W...
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Friday, February 06, 2009
Happy Birthday Aaron and Friends, Part 1
Tomorrow, we'll focus on the food, decor, and details, but today is dedicated to my dear friends and fellow revelers....Christi, my black concert outfit, and a black glitter hat... Who could ask for anything more? :-)
What a great image, the glow of flames, wax spelling, and gourmet cakes from Dean and Deluca, full descriptions forthcoming...
It was Sunil's actual birthday, but David's was just days away....
At left, on the right, my longtime friend Erik chats with Fernando. Erik was down from Boston, barely a week after his own birthday.. and at right, the charming JP Forrest, aka John, my newest friend....
Karen & Donna, David & Paul...
I have the great fortune to work among friends... Left to right my coworkers John W and Bevan, and Bevan's girlfriend Cheryl
My good friends Stephen and Kevin came down from Pound Ridge, and Bart (right) and Ash from Mount Vernon in Central Westchester. All three look much, much better than this and clearly deserve a more seasoned photographer.. I'm working on it....
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Thursday, February 05, 2009
All 7, And We'll Watch Them Fall....
Time to move on up.... It's a hectic week as I scramble once more to complete a publication that risks turning into my Sistine Chapel.. this is not a good thing : - ) I like the neon pointillist glow of my old friend subway line #7, aka the Orient Express, since it crosses Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, home to 150 different nationalities
Now I know which way is up.... to move on up, you have to know which way is up...
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009
How I wish I were this chick! Oh, the fun of it!
The pinks! The purples!
The snazzy Nelson Riddle score!
The tongue miles-deep in cheek!
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Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Happy Birthday, David!
It's January 34th, time to say 'Happy Birthday' to one of my best and coolest friends ever, a person of many facets and a subtly whimsical array of facial expressions and style permutations. Feliz cumpleaños, amigo - we salute your mathematic, musical mind....
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Monday, February 02, 2009
Just learned a great new expression!
Lemon socialism - system in which taxpayers bear the cost if things go wrong, but stockholders and executives get the benefits if things go right.
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Unexpected But Lovely Swerve Into Left Field
One of 2008's best musical moments happened when a superstar emo-rock band made the daring choice to totally change their style on their second album, pouring their emo urgency and breathless pace into a cauldron with Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles and psychedelia.. Why did they do it? 'We wanted to sound happier...' : - )That's what Las Vegas-based Panic! At The Disco attempted mid-year with the album 'Pretty. Odd.' - Of course, it was a commercial failure, but a critical success.
Today's Song of the Week is the awesome 'Mad As Rabbits,' a lightning-speed musical arrow of wonder, harmony, and poetically nonsensical lyrics. It's what Brian would call 'baked.' ;- ) Enjoy this clip, live from Sweden, for the seldom-heard but awesome 'Rabbits' after which I've posted clips of their two massive radio hits from 2005.
Their two mega-hits had clever, arcane titles that appeared nowhere in the lyrics, foreshadowing the quirkiness that was yet to come.. The first hit is called 'The Only Difference Between Suicide and Martyrdom is Press Coverage' - here they shake it live...
Their even bigger, second hit, is a tale of cruel wedding gossip known to many as 'closing a goddamn door' is named 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies...' This is from 'Jimmy Kimmel...'
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Sunday, February 01, 2009
'Twas A Happy Birthday Party...
Photo story later in the week, but here are Three Happy Birthday Boys.. me, David in the middle, and Sunil at left... I turned 49 interesting years old.. ,,,my dear friends are barely past the 30-year mark....
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100% Buttoned
'The Hardest Button To Button,' is a charming song title by the White Stripes, and it amuses me since I needed two viewings to see 100% of the unusual and compelling 'Curious Case of Benjamin Button,' a life story whose protagonist is born a old man and grows young over 80 years meeting death as a newborn. Most of you know that I saw it in late December with my family in Arizona, and slept through most of the first half. The Curious Case of Aaron Holsberg was that I felt I'd seen a complete, coherent, and very touching film, just from the first 20 minutes and final 90 minutes of the 166-minute film. I was very exhausted at year-end. Five weeks and 13 Oscar nominations later, I finally saw the whole film and I appreciate that it deserves every single second of those 166 minutes.
First, hats off to the writers for creating such a substantial film from F Scott Fitzgerald's very minor short story.. Not since 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' has a screenwriter made an emotional masterpiece out of a great author's trifle... The acting is excellent, if anyone ever doubted Brad Pitt's range and depth. Less surprisingly, Cate Blanchett is terrific throughout and Tilda Swinton's 20 minutes are indelible.
The 20th Century is a supporting character and is very-well rendered, through the lens of New Orleans. The old folks' home where Button grows up is a wonderous and insightful as Gabriel Garcia Marquez' finest strokes of magical realism...
It's a stunning technical achievement. They photographed hundreds of Brad Pitt's facial expressions from every possible angle to re-create him convincingly at various stages of 'seniority' and as the strange old-man-infant and old-man-child... Toward the film's end, he looks very hot and believable as a twenty-year-old...
Oh, just go see it if you haven't... Here's the preview....
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