Music for Sunday (On Wednesday, My Birthday) - Joni Mitchell - 4th of July - Night Ride Home

To me, Joni Mitchell is like Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Charles Mingus all in one person. Just as my birthday (July 1), the 4th of July and early summer are all woven together as parts of who I am. I love summer, the fireworks, the man beside me and all the music this elegant Canadian songbird, turned California girl, has given us over the decades.

I'm busy (class started on Monday and ends next Thursday but runs from 2:30 to 7:45: jam-packed) and a bit stressed but none the worse for wear, as they say. 83% happy, healthy and trying to make the most of life. If you've got that, there is not a whole to complain about. Well...unless the hormones are taking their toll on the emotions, as they are wont to do! When I'm in the thick of that, it always seems that I will be depressed forever, as I was way back when. Then it passes and I can see that it was just a bout of the blues and a bit of worry, which is normal and human.

I hope you are all well or hanging in. I'm thinking of you who visit often and as always, regretting I can't get to your blogs for every new post. And when I can, I am often called away by duty and cannot leave a comment. I wish you peace and a wonderful summer.

All the love,
Pagan Sphinx

Just A Little Green

UPDATE ON AMIR, MISSING IRANIAN BLOGGER: home safe, please check the blog Tehran24


photo by Pagan Sphinx
click for better viewing size

Inch by Inch, Row by Row (Cornfield in early Summer)
Southern New Hampshire

The struggle for freedom in Iran is one that can go forward if people around the world unite around the cause of human rights and speak out against theocracies and dictatorships. Let's not just leave it up to the governments. We have a unique opportunity, through the lightning speed of the internet, to wage support for non-violent struggles all over the world.

Support Freedom in Iran & Gene Sharp

Green is the symbolic color of Islam and the color that the pro-
Mousavi movement has adopted

A fellow blogger from Portugal who runs the blog Oeiras and Environs Daily and occasionally comments here, alerted me to a blog movement tomorrow on behalf of the people of Iran whose struggle for freedom has caught the world's attention. It seems that a member of the international blogging community is missing and many are concerned about this individual's whereabouts and safety. Here is the URL for that blog: http://tehranlive.org/, which JM has recently left in blog comments.

In solidarity with the people of Iran: I support you in your fight for democracy, freedom and human rights. Fight on.

Here you can read an article about a man named Gene Sharp, whom you may never have heard of, but whose book "From Dictatorship to Democracy" is rumored to have helped topple several dictatorships, including that of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, through its almost 200 hundred non-violent strategies; some of which have already been adopted by the student movement in Iran. If you're interested in non-violent protest, you'll really like reading this article.

There is some lively political discussion of the situation in Iran at the site of my Iranian blog bud Homeyra. You can read her at Forever Under Construction.

The Friday Evening Nudes (the late edition)

NOTE:
Whoops. I thought late last night that it was Friday. When school ends, I tend to lose track of what day it is! Whether you saw the post on Thursday or Friday, I hope you enjoy(ed) it!

Picasso
Seated Nute

(Click this one for a nicer view)
Emile Bernard
Bathers With Red Cow
1887

(See my Artist of the Week post on Emile Bernard)

Paul Delvaux
Proposition Diurne (La femme au miroir)
1937

(click this one for a nicer view)
Max Ernest
Woman, Old Man and Flower
1924

Rene Magritte

Marsden Hartley

(click this one for a better view)
Karl Schmidt Rottluff
Rote Düne (Red Dune)
detail
1913

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

Sticky Note

Check out my Artist of the Week post on the work of Emile Bernard,

scroll down or click here.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aerialist Ninette Paloma performs in the Cosmic Splash inflatable float during the 2009 Santa Barbara Solstice Parade. (Kevin Steele photo / kevsteele.com/solstice)



The day of the Summer Solstice has come and gone and two days later, it is either raining or gray. I haven't felt terribly celebratory, either. Extra responsibilities don't agree with me occasionally and right now is such a spell. So I lived the solstice virtually and vicariously the other night by looking at these images. Experienced solstice via the internet. Some pagan, huh?.

They are spectacular images, though. Take a look and a listen.

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

They had so much fun on Solstice in Santa Barbara but their merriment didn't stretch far enough across the country to affect our wet and gray weather. It's been so many days since we've seen a decent face on the sun that today it actually made me drag myself around like a sack of rocks.

Artist of the Week - Émile Bernard

Émile Bernard
by Toulouse-Latrec

Émile Henri Bernard (April 28, 1868 – April 16, 1941) is best known as a Post-Impressionist painter who maintained close relations to Van Gogh and Gauguin and, at a later time, to Cézanne.read more of this article here


French painter who is sometimes credited with founding Cloisonnism (see Pont-Aven school; Synthetism). He was noted for his friendships with such artists as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Odilon Redon, and Paul Cézanne.

My apologies, for these are quite out of order by date. In some cases I don't know the date assigned to a painting and with others, I'm afraid to mess with their placement on the blogger layout which is notorious for giving me trouble.

Self-portrait with portrait of Paul Gauguin
1888.


In the same year, Gaugin painted this counterpiece

click this one for larger viewing size

Breton Women

Breton Women
(Van Gogh's version, after Bernard)

below:

Iron Bridges at Asnières
1887

Brother Scene
(for Vincent)

The Artist's Grandmother

Breton Peasants

click this one for larger viewing size

Apres le bain, les nymphes
1908

click this one for a bigger viewing size

Madeleine au Bois d'Amour
(Madeleine was the artist's sister. This painted when he was merely 2o years old)

The Harem

Breton Woman and Haystacks

Still Life with Flowers

Father's Day

In loving memory of my father, Fernando
1928-2006

Bad Art Or Not?

Banana
(banana peel on broken pieces of glass on wooden base)

Note: I've been struggling about whether or not the work of Deiter Roth deserves the question "Is it art or not?". Namely because he is a noteworthy artist and much has been written about his work; some of it regarding the assumption that for this type of art, he was "the real deal". Because I run this feature on occasion and I enjoy getting people's reactions to the weird modern and contemporary ar I sometimes postt, I've decided to archive this post under the Bad Art or Not? category. Do I think it's bad art or even art at all? Read about it in comments! :-) My own opinions are just as informed as yours, in most cases. Perhaps I'm a bit more "open" to weird art for some reason I don't understand. As a lot of you know, discovering new art and artists is a passion of mine but I'm not an expert on art, nor an art critic. I present to you what I find interesting, amusing, beautiful or thought-provoking. Whether you think it's entirely foolish or you see some merit in Dieter's work, all opinions are invited!

So, my brilliant and lovely readers...is it art, or not?

Dieter Roth (April 21, 1930 - June 5, 1998) was a Swiss-German artist best known for his artist's books and for his sculptures and pictures made with rotting food stuffs ^[1]. He was also known as Dieter Rot and Diter Rot read the rest of the Wikipedia entry. Roth was a sort of fringes member of the Fluxus network of artists.

Roth's creative accomplishments include paintings, drawings, graphic works, books, sculptures, jewelry, installations, and film and video works.

"I hate it if I notice that I like something, if I am able to do something, so that I just have to repeat it, that it could become a habit. Then I stop immediately. Also if it threatens to become beautiful."
~ Dieter Roth

click on image to view larger

Insel (Island)

In a series of works called Insel ("Island", 1968), for instance, Roth would take a blue panel, cover it in foodstuffs arranged as islands on the background, cover the surface in yoghurt, then cover that in a layer of plaster, leaving the piece to undergo a series of transformations; mouldy stages, bacterial decay, insect attack, and then stability as only nondegradable elements were left.

Shit Hare
(yes, pressed from rabbit excrement. Don't say I didn't warn you in my introduction that I may feature the work of subversives! Sheesh. I don't look subversive... ;-)
I think I still have one of these hanging around from an Easter season of the past...uh... a chocolate one, I mean! ;-)

sausage decomposing
(exact title unknown at publishing time)

Small Sunset 1968
(sausage on blue & white paper in plastic cover)

click for larger view
Gartenskulptur (Garden sculpture)
(1968-96)

Wood, wire, rope, metal, construction materials and objects, furnishings, plants, video equipment, monitors, painting utensils, liquids in glasses, foodstuffs, toys, clothing, pigments, photographs, drawings, multiples and collages.
Dimensions variable.

Ring: Ring with rotating components 1971
18 carat gold ring support with 15 screw-on shapes in coloured plexiglass

(Image used with permission from Klimt 02/Community
where you can view a couple of other rings by Dieter

Roth Time - A Dieter Roth Retrospective

from a 2004 MoMA exhibition

The Dieter Roth Foundation

Harvard Magazine
Impermanent Art

Dieter Roth: Breaking the Mold

I also want to give general credit to a cool online art magazine called

hEyOkA mAgAzInE

where I found a lot of great articles. please click on the linked logo and enjoy.

Music for Sunday: Rufus Wainwright

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Christian Science Monitor:

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Repeal of the policy barring homosexuals from serving openly in the military is now up to the Obama administration and Congress.

What's Goin' On: Busy as Hell

I wanted to let you all know how sorry I am that I've not been able to get to blogs. This past weekend was really time-consuming (in a good way) but I'm very behind with everything else in my life. I've also been busy gathering materials to submit for both the masters program and a couple of jobs I'm interested in applying for.

The girls are home, too, and I'd like to spend as much time with them as I can this summer. All of this leaves very little time for hobbies and interests.

I think I can continue to post the Friday Nudes and the occasional update and if I'm able, I'll visit your blogs a few at a time. I'm filled with regret, as I so love visiting blogs. I know you will understand but I'll feel like I'm the one really missing out.

All the love,
Pagan Sphinx

Graduation Photos!

SG1 and Beloved had their graduation this weekend. Graduation at Mt. Holyoke is traditionally a two-day event. On Saturday, Laurel Parade was held. If you're truly interested in the meaning of Laurel Parade at Mt. Holyoke, click this link. Otherwise, in my own words, it's an event that celebrates both the graduating class and Mary Lyon, the college's founder. Ulumi from graduating classes as far back as the 1930's join the graduates in the parade and hold their own reunion events.

Day One
Laurel Parade

The women all wear white and carry what seems to be an endless garland of laurel. Above are SG1 and Beloved that I captured during a lull in the parade, since I wasn't content to sit in one spot, but followed the paraders to their destination...

Mary Lyon's grave.

There are no speeches, just a swarm of young women in white wrapping the laurel garland around the wrought iron fence and their guests looking on and cheering. It was all quite charming.

Below, SG1 and Beloved take a break after the parade to chat and review the rest of the afternoon's agenda for the family.

But not for long, as introducitons needed to be made between their families and some fellow graduates and friends. And so of course, I had to take pictures!

Day Two The Actual Graduation:

Mount Holyoke
One Hundred Seventy-Second Commencement

Empty ampatheater seating, awaiting the graduates.

SG1 Bachelor of Arts in Politics
magna cum laude & with thesis honors

Beloved Bachelor of Arts in Gender Studies
Cum Laude & with High Thesis Honors


From the graduation we came to my house for a small get-t0gether by the river, which included Beloved's parents and younger brother. It was wonderful to meet them. They're very excellent poeple.

Below are the graduates and to the right L.P., my younge step-daughter and on the far left my SG2.

The graduates/newly weds enjoying some cake...


and poignantly looking out over the river
(poignancy courtesy of the Cunning Runt) ;-)

Related links

Address was given by Irish president Mary McAleese.

Green Commencement at Mount Holyoke College. Every graduating class has a color and the color for the MHC class of 2009 is green.

The Friday Evening Nudes

Boris Kustodiyev
La Belle 1915

Antoine Wiertz
1800's

Reclying Nude
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
1897

Francisco Zúñiga

Desnudo de Concha

1947

Odalisque
(Reclining Nude Wrapped in a Sheet)
Francesco Hayez

Sky Watch

Skywatch is being posted from The Pagan Sphinx this week. If you usually visit me at The Pagan's Eye for Sky Watch and you have never been here before, a warm welcome.

Skywatch is hosted by Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise

click to enlarge to good viewing size

This is my daughter's dorm on the campus of what will be her alma mater on Sunday, when she graduates from Mount Holyoke College. More photos to follow. I promise I won't bore you with post after post but it is indeed a very proud moment in our family. Many sacrifices have been made and much sleep lost all around but it's really quite an accomplishment for SG1.

Happy Birthday, Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk
(May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978)

Think Green Thursday; A New Meme

(click to enlarge)

A note about the photograph: it was taken by me after a visit to the Smith College Greenhouse in Northampton, Mass. I had to smile because I agree with virtually every sentiment depicted on the bumper sticker laden vehicle. The Happy Valley is chock-full of bumper stickers like these; lots of Obama bumper stickers, etc. But this is really over the top in terms of the number of slogans.

In case you haven't taken note, I'm fairly addicted to what bloggers call "photo memes". After many years of taking photographs in spurts, I've decided I don't want to ever miss another photo opportunity again. Whether it's my family or a place I visit; something to do while I'm waiting for something else to happen or a visual record of my every move, I've really taken to the digi-cam. I don't have a fancy camera, nor do I consider myself any type of real photographer. My interest in photography isn't to crow about how good my photo is but to experiment with images in a sort of diary-like way. I've also found that taking digital snapshots allows me to photograph a lot of signs and description cards in art museums, so I don't forget who the artist was who created the piece. I have frequently photographed street signs, addresses and storefronts, hours of operation and labels on products.

Having an outlet for using these images, photo memes are a fun way to see where other people live, what their interests and passions are and what their families and surroundings are like, who their pets are, what they do for a living. It's all interesting. Blogs that highlight great places to visit do more to attract me there than a boring travel site. I really love this virtual travel!

I've really not gotten to the point, have I? Being as addicted to these photographs blogs with their themes and challenges, I had to, of course, start my own. A few weeks ago, I thought it would a small challenge to create a weekly meme (with or without photos) that dealt with the environment in some way. Think Green Thursday is off and running. Trouble is, I'm not sure how I'm going to keep it up once summer is in full swing. I've going to have a very active summer! But I'll deal with that when the times gets closer.

One of the things I'm already liking about the first few weeks of Think Green Thursday is that it keeps me honest about my own efforts at doing my part for the environment. And the more I learn when I do my net research for it or when I read the posts that others have contributed to the meme, the more I'm aware of how I should do my part and how. One of the things I'm becoming increasingly aware of is what is called "green washing". One can see this in TV commercials for large corporations, some (most?) of whom think they can sell you their energy products and cars by painting their slogans green. This phenomenon exists in small retail shops as well. You have to be careful what you're buying. Some cute little porcelain dish in the local coop may very well be made in China, one of the world's worst polluters. While it's impossible to avoid products made in China, if I can I will and I do. It's also a reminder not to buy a lot of crap you don't really need.

Think Green Thursday has attracted the attention of several excellent bloggers who post on the environment and I'm thrilled they've agreed to participate whenever they can. I want to give a hat tip to these groovy people. The badges for TGT have been created and contributed to the effort by the people noted below. A huge thanks to you all.

Blog badge by Mary

Mary The Teach, who is a brilliant professor, writer and photographer, created the above badge for me using one of my own photos. Mary has contributed some really excellent posts to the meme. She's a veteran blogger with two really popular photo memes of her own. Sorry that I may not have time to link you to them all: Ruby Tuesday, Window Views; just to name a few.

badge by Christine Gram

This one was created by Christine Gram using her photograph. Christine's blog Strange Pilgram is new to me but what a gem I've found. Since most of my bloggie buds are women, you'll enjoy the post Going With the Flow. But men who are affected by how weird we women become during regular monthly intervals may be able to relate to it, too.


Gemma Weisman of Melbourne, Australia is the author of Greyscale Territory, a wonderful blog chock-full of original poetry, photography and magic. She created the button for my new blog you see below.

Badge by Gemma Weisman

Amanda Guthrie's Green Scene. Amanda is doing all sorts of interesting projects at Green Scene: posting all sorts of interesting sites, networking and educating like crazy! You can tell Amanda realizes that when it comes to the environment, we can't afford to waste time. I highly suggest you visit her and give her a thumbs-up on all her efforts.

Amanda created this badge for the new meme:

badge by Amanda Guthrie

My gal-pal Betmo in upstate New York has a really groovy and political blog, Got Green? that focuses on the environment, sustainability and green living. She doesn't bullshit or pull any punches, so it may not always be cute. But I guarantee you'll learn something and Bet will have you wanting to do something about it.

Thorne's Blog on Smog which contains the contributions of several other authors, is loaded with interesting articles and resources on green technology, recycling, fuel efficiency, alternative fuels, etc. It is a very professionally put-together effort with potential to reach a lot of readers. Please check out this blog as well as Thorne's World.

Last but no means least, is my dear friend Bobbie of the blog Almost There. Bobbie never fails to hold up her end of the responsibility when comes to issues that matter. The environment is no exception. Her contributions to the new meme have been excellent and informative. I really appreciate your efforts on this, Bobbie!

If you have anything you'd like to contribute to Think Green Thursday, please email me with resources for posts or create your own post and link back to me. Or just create your "green" post! Come on! You know it's important!

All the love,
Pagan Sphinx

Music for Sunday #4

Doesn't he look like he should be frolicking in the forest with the nymphs and satyr on my blog header? ;-)

The Runt: songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, singer, video artist and technical wiz. Check out his cool website, Go Ahead and Ignore Me.

The Friday Evening Nudes

Woman in the Sun

Edward Hopper

Magritte

Discovery

Fernand Leger

The Bathers

Philip Pearlstein

Model on African Stool

Manet

Woman in Tub

William Merritt Chase
Modern Magdalen
1888

What's Goin' On

There's a lot goin' on! I'm assembling my info for the application packet for the graduate (fast-track) program I'm enrolling in. The first class starts on June 29. That means that I have one precious week after school ends and before I start attending M-TH, from 2:30-7:30 daily, with an hour plus round-trip commute. This ends on July 9.

In two weeks SG1 and The Beloved are graduating from college; cum laude and with thesis honors. Several activities are planned that weekend, which is Memorial Day weekend. The girls are moving into their tiny apartment on the Santa Barbara University campus mid-August. That is starting to settle in, though it's still hard for me to imagine my daughter living a continent away from me. She has applied for a AmeriCorp job which she is eagerly awaiting word about. The Beloved will have her graduate studies and stipend and SG1 hopefully will be working a job with benefits. AmeriCorps is perfect: offers benefits, money toward the cost of paying off student loans and a small stipend. We're really hoping she gets it. She would be perfect in that setting.

SG2 is home for the summer and will be starting her summer job this weekend at the supermarket. She's somewhat despondent about leaving Boston and all her friends. She's settled in very nicely this year and immensely looking forward to returning. This is cause for relief for me, her mother, because her first year was not her happiest. She and her high school boyfriend have parted ways for a few months now and she is seeing other boys, having fun and doing very well in school.

This summer SG1 and SG2 and I are going on vacation together to visit my mother in Portugal; not far from Lisbon. But before we do that, we're making a little stop. I'm splurging on three days and nights in Barcelona for us. I can't imagine the next time we'll have such an opportunity. The Beloved is flying home to Sacramento to spend her last summer with her family before she and SG1 resume their life as a couple. This is the perfect time for the three of us to do some bonding and funning together. Then we go relax with my mother and see the rest of my family and enjoy some hot Portuguese sun, some Atlantic Ocean and lots of great food.

These family trips to Portugal have tended to have sibling rivalry all over them in the past but we're going to try to behave as if that's not so. We three are older and wiser and hoping for the best. And I think we're all really going to try not to get on each other's nerves. (keeping fingers crossed). Speaking of the past. Here's a digital photo of a print (cuz I can't figure out this scanner and I just never get around to figuring it out) of us on vacation in Portugal in 92', I think it was. That flash is glare and the one making the goofy face is SG1, in her own little world.



I think I've accepted the fact that I have to get through this program in order to get out of the trap I'm in at work, which I can't discuss in very much detail here. Today was just awful. Every day that I have like this at work is just another indication of how I need to move on from there. It is simply just a bad fit between this workplace and me.

World and national politics have me burned out. I'm discouraged by the escalation of war. Instead of bringing the troops home from Iraq, we're gearing up big-time for Afghanistan and Iran. I didn't expect such hawkishness from this president. Go ahead and lecture me, if you need to. I know a lot of people feel that Obama is between a rock and a hard place. But you can't convince me war is justified. It very rarely is. It should be a last resort. I know it's ideaistic but it's my conscience and I'm listening to it.

What are you all doing for the summer, do you know yet?

Artist of the Week

Salvador Dali

1904-1989

Self-Portrait with Raphaelesque Neck
1921-22

“There are some days when I think I’m going to die from an overdose of satisfaction.” - Salvadore Dali

I've tried my best to place the images in order by date, whenever possible. I've been collecting Dali images on the web for many weeks now and what I've done is pull both my favorites as well as some lesser-known Dali paintings and sculpture.



Figure at the Window 1925

Bust of a Woman
1933

The Sign of Anguish
1932-36


below
Sculpture
(title & year unknown)

The Ship 1943


Forgotten Horizon
1936
(below)

(click to enlarge)
"Three Dancers" detail of Forgotten Horizon

I'll have you know that I've been saving this, my favorite Dali, for months now, to include in this post. It's one of my favorite nudes, so it was tempting to feature it on The Friday Evening Nudes. This is stunning to my eye and my imagination and I saw it, up-close and personal, at The Tate in 2005.

Scatalogical Object Functioning Symbolically
(The+Surrealist+Shoe)
1931

Shirley Temple the youngest Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time 1939

Lobster Telephone
1938
Painted metal,plaster,rubber and paper
(I saw this at The Tate)

Crucifixion or Corpus Hypercubicus
1954

Vivante
Living Still Life
1956


below:
title and year unknown

Gala Contemplating the Corpus Hypercubicus
1954

(Gala was Dali's wife, who died before him)

One Second Before Awakening from a Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate
1944

(another one of my personal Dali favorites)

Fifty Abstract Paintings Which as Seen from Two Yards Change into Three Lenins Masquerading as Chinese and as Seen from Six Yards Appear as the Head of a Royal Bengal Tiger
1963
(yes, that's the entire title!)


"One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams."

Salvador Dali links

VirtualDali

Olga's Gallery

Salvador Dali Art Gallery

Webcoast's View on Salvador Dali

Dali Museum

Video clip of Dali interviewed by Mike Wallace
(worth viewing)