far away films

On another film weekend, i loved every minute of these 2 movies. Both are 2 hours, right at my limit, but oh so worth it. Being There in 1979 and The Misfits 1961. And both are strong, bold, acclaimed and successful on lots of levels.Being There with Peter Sellers and Shirley McClain is so thoughtful, sweet and inspiring - and funny. It was Sellers last film released before he died. Here is the wonderful sequence of scenes (with a wonderful version of very familiar movie music.) It's Sellers leaving the only home he's ever known. He has never seen the front yard, been to school or a doctor, or ridden in a car.


It was filmed in color even thought this picture of Sellers in the wing back chair is black and white. I like this of him just resting. is it Sellers or Chance?I think it's Chance, or Chauncy reflecting on the fate of the world or just being dumb and simple. Was he Jesus Christ, a pre-Forrest Gump, or a figment of our collective imagination? Maybe he was just in the right place at the right time. This is fun to watch also because the mansion they filmed in is Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC, made to seem like is located near Washington DC. I've been to Biltmore and a tour is worth the time and moola.


Clark Gable and Marylin Monroe's last film, before their deaths was The Misfits, written by Arthur Miller. He was married to Monroe at the time but the marriage was ending. I like this film but i was struck by just how truly misfitted the gang of characters were - more so than other times i have watched it. i mean everyone was just pathetic, and yet very sincere and trying really hard. At one point i decided it was Miller that was trying too hard. But then what he had Gay (Gable) tell Roslyn (Monroe), as he tucked her into a sleeping bag on the back of the truck, was just perfect...down right Buddhist.


I have to use this photo of Marilyn because she looks so natural and sort of happy. I think she is just Marilyn here, and not Roslyn. The world didn't see this side of her much.

more dreamy in full sun

Part of the dreaminess of this plaza is how empty it is. Folks passing or hanging out - and especially if they have their dogs - just adds to the visual and mental clutter. i want empty open space so my thoughts can transcend. There will always be pedestrians out on the street side perimeter, but seldom in this park. the pool is central to the upper level, and is in fact, not visible from the street.

When i stand by the water and look up over my shoulder, i see this...

And my approach is usually entering between these 2 towers. I think skyscrapers are so clean, smooth, dizzying and help the clouds have something to anchor to. White to the east and green to the north.

The emerald tower, as it's called here in Winston is a BB&T bank building - headquarters i believe. The white tampon, as it's referred to in town, is Wachovia headquarters - or i guess Wells Fargo from the west coast owns it now - they still call it Wachovia.

Parting shot, just for fun - this is facing south. and there is a pigeon standing on the far edge of the water, in the center, just to the left of the distant twin structure. You can click on the image for larger version. The bird's reflection is what you can see in the water. it's body, about to take flight, is harder to make out against the things in the distance. Below the bird that edge of the pool falls 2 stories, 20 or more feet to another pool.

Lovely water meditations.

dreamy in full sun

I walk my 2 dogs a lot, and it's wonderful meditation. One place we head to in the afternoons has a negative edge pool. It sits on the upper level of a plaza downtown where we live.











this is my younger fella, who's always in the lead. His head made it into this shot as we approach. The older dog, and myself, being lots older and much more mature, don't rush ahead.







in the summer, the doggies need water and they can hop onto the bench and drink the water rushing smoothly over the curved edge or the moat itself - as demonstrated in the third photo.

to be continued...

phone photos in eastern VA

Back on July 8 this summer i talked about the camera on my phone - matt's pictures and mine. I was with his family this past weekend and after dinner one night, i walked out front and took a picture of my jeep. i was trying for the lovely sunset, but my camera phone got zip - just darkness. Then with the sunset behind me, i captured this shot of the car.






Dark and grainy like a bad dream when you're in dire straits and it is dark around you and your vision is failing. Then you start to squint to see better but it's no good. At least for me that's a bad dream. Well i love my jeep and i love the Peterman's place, and being with them by the river - it's not scary or dire in any way. just extra dark, when it gets dark, cause it's way out in the country.



So back to photos.

After the jeep, i walked around the house to the river side and went down on the dock. I got the lights on the dock, some light in the windows a couple of giant stars and that wonderful

twilight blue. It works so well on lots of levels; the gradation of blue getting darker from left to right. the march of lights from out by the water, up the steps and bank, onto the house. the over sized stars. and even the red and orange kayaks that look like shrouded figures retreating. and of course, sparkly water. Hummm magic.

MM + MM + MM = MM

1. i am a fan of Maureen.

2. i like her art talk Monroe silkscreen.

3. me in exhibit.

4. my blog Monroe.

5. me like Twitter.

6. me like McLuhan

7. three folks with MM initials

8. medium is the message = MM

Besides being a fan of Maureen McCarron's art blog, [ she has another sharp blog of her photos and observations from around new york] ....and really enjoying her revelations & educations about artists i like - Haring, Warhol, et al -.... I was dazzled by Warhol's Marilyn silk screen that she recently posted. I also needed to find the 4 Marilyn version, in particular, for updating some of my own conceptual artwork. My work is to be exhibited this fall in the BookArt exhibit at Art Space in Richmond VA. And then, 4 weeks back, i happened to talk about Marilyn Monroe on this blog after watching Niagara.

Anyway... Today I found this wonderful web exhibits site about the Warhol Marilyn work, and discovered the photo he used for his prints was a publicity shot done for Niagara. She had just died and her face was the first multi color portraits that he did. Scroll down under the large Marilyn image, on this site, and you can really manipulate the colors, play around - Andy would have loved it.

I also like to Twitter now. [bear with me] Via my Twitter, i found Marshall McLuhan and that lead to the link to his web site - he's dead too, although he lived 18 years after Marilyn.



[i know this wanders terribly.] Of course the only connection i've made for this post, so far, is the initials MM, 3 times. But i met Maureen at the same time we both were looking at Andy Warhol and hearing about Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan was all the buzz with our instructors in art school in the late 1960s. Warhol was a real inspiration. And McLuhan, when i thought i understood what he was saying, was inspiring too. "We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future."

And this Q & A from the McLuhan web site;

Why is the title of the book "The medium is the massage" and not "The medium is the message"?
Actually, the title was a mistake. When the book came back from the typesetter's, it had on the cover "Massage" as it still does. The title was supposed to have read "The Medium is the Message" but the typesetter had made an error. When Marshall McLuhan saw the typo he exclaimed, "Leave it alone! It's great, and right on target!" Now there are possible four readings for the last word of the title, all of them accurate: "Message" and "Mess Age," "Massage" and "Mass Age."



The medium is the message....or let's all get massaged. What we have to say is so fleeting and ephemeral - How we say it defines us and imprints history. i personally think Twitter is very McLuhan, and so very Warhol. Maybe not too Marilyn, but who knows - she was gone too soon. Now if i could get Maureen to tweet with me...?

Calliope & Sam Arrived

A quick foot note to the July series of art in my loft. These 2 exquisite paintings by Maureen McCarron arrived and are resting in our bedroom for the moment. We are painting the walls a medium-dark olive drab that will really feature these colors.


Calliope is a touch pinker than this photo reveals and lives in front of the most beautiful golden and orange background field. The pointillist style creates such depth, especially with the metallic paint added. I have brought Little Pinkie into the room and it's like Calliope is the big sibling.


The Sam I Am figure is not as pale as i expected but is a fabulous swirl of reds and blues = purples. The green background works so well, besides the fact that green is my favorite color and the upholstery and bedding is all greens and some purple. We don't hang art work just to match one fabric or the other - but sometimes there are color themes that just emerge and are satisfying.

These angels (see background info on Archetypal Angels back in March, April and May 09) are watching over us now. Really excellent additions to the home place.