FUNNY, ODD, OUTRAGEOUS AND VERY GOOD

A CONCLAVE OF THE ECLECTIC

CAMBRIA'S 927

The easily offended should not enter

    For such a small village, Cambria is many things; charming, curious and an art colony. 927, named for the local phone prefix, the annual "non traditional" art show is a  conspiracy of all of the above.

 Pleased to see a couple of Lana's pieces in the 927 Hall of Fame, including her best of show Well Traveled Woman sculpture.
 My choice for best title of the year is the frame below-

   Musician and mac guru Rick Auricchio's Beta Dead Than Red

  927 Founder, painter sculptor and newspaper cartoonist 
Art Van Rhyn drew on the drought as his continuing character Mrs. Fosdick Tends Her Roses.

 Lana won the Cambria Center for the Arts Theater Award

for her paper mache' Buddy Can You Spare a Drop?

   Themes other than California's water woes were evident

 Carol Flash calls the above watercolor Hi Moon

   Portrait of a Selfie was a crowd favorite.
   Cambria's artisans also produced enduring beauties-
   Fox Garney entered these lovely pieces with the unique 

titles Let's Get A Handle on the Water Situation and its companion porcelain You've Got Balls to Say That. 

 Weaver Michele Pike titled this Disregard for History-it is woven from an old cassette tape.

 Annie Lawrence's Good Egg.

    J'nett Wolff's Water Witch, with running water was potable, as she said.

      Beverly Whitaker's Old News is that indeed, rolled newspapers.

     Richard Morriss is a sculptor who can re-purpose objects.

   Painter Pat Wilmott's All Those In Favor-The Eyes Have It had a lot of eyes on it.

As did Tish Rogers' departure for Wonderland.

    This is but a small sampling of the kind of non traditional art, Cambria's serious artists, hobbyists and playful residents turn out for the annual 927 which provokes a lot of smiles.  

     And as this is Cambria, curious, charming, eclectic and all, there was controversy over The Best of Show selection. Some were offended, others thought it humorous while still in very poor taste.

      The piece called PETA Pussy was done by Carol Meuneir and Mena Granatino. It is a mummified cat, dressed up. We were told it was found beneath their porch.  What do you think?

 NOW SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT

   No contest here.  Lana's most recent baking effort.

   And the poached pear from Maestro Giovanni at Harmony Cafe.

   Bon Apetit' and see you down the trail.

POSITIVITY

IN THE PINK

     The idea of relative values has been running in the back of my mind, making me smile.  Californians have been shivering and complaining about the cold snap we are enduring.  To be honest, it has been chilly, but....

      Temperatures here are approaching record overnight lows , low 30's and upper 20's.  Yes, cooler than normal, but compared to what most of the nation endures and what we experienced for all those decades in Indiana, well, you get the drift.  On one of our "cold" nights, I took something out to the trash, wearing a T-shirt.  I would not want to have stayed out long, but there were winter storm nights in the mid-west such an act could have been near lethal.  Relative values.

   This is Toccata, the signature piece in Lana's new exhibition at the Windward Vineyard Gallery.  It is a departure, or a return to her roots, after 6 years of doing
Plein Air work.  You can see more of the work by linking here.

    My sincere thanks to those of you who have written, asking about why the break in the blog posting.  I missed filing the Weekender, due in part to the two gents in the foreground.

   Mike Griffin, on the left, who I mentioned recently and Bruce Taylor, AKA Catalyst, who's own blog, Oddball Observations, is linked in the column to the right, are central to my excuse.  The 3 of us worked together back in 1969 and have remained fast friends since.  As you may recall, Bruce and his lovely Judy, have been inspirations in our life.  They are here, visiting and frankly we've been having too much fun to break away long enough to post.  I'm sneaking this one in quickly, awaiting Bruce and Judy's arrival for an afternoon and evening of more.

   See you down the trail. 

THE WEEKENDER-VIDEO MAGIC

A CLOSER LOOK

     Thanks to those who either posted or emailed comments about Lana's first place award in the Cambria Allied Arts juried show.  For those who said they'd like a better look-here tis-

Lone Palm Trail

16 X 20 Oil

You can see more of Lana's art at her

blog by linking here.

REEL NOTES

SKY FALL

     50 years into the franchise, and the James Bond thrillers

are not only still entertaining, but perhaps better than ever.

     Gone are the campy innuendo lines, gratuitous Bond and gorgeous woman falling into bed scenes and the over the top special effects and weapons.  In it's place is a cleaner story line, real character development, cleverness and an aging Bond in a cyber security world.  Daniel Craig continues his chiseling of a life like Ian Flemming created MI 6 agent.  Where Sean Connery had charm, Craig has melancholy. Dame Judy Dench as M is wonderful and Javier Bardam as bad guy Silva is again deviously twisted and masterful.  Albert Finney and Ralph Fiennes both turn in great supporting character roles.

      This is the 23rd Bond film and director Sam Mendes provides you a thrill ride and taut drama.  Thomas Newman's music is brilliant, especially his ability to reprise classic Bond themes at appropriate moments of historical vignettes.  If you like big budget, big films that are pure entertainment, this is a great popcorn film.

HOW DID THEY DO THIS?

The Weekender Remaps time

    Here is a video mind boggler, that demonstrates a special effect edit technique called time remapping.  Thanks to Beverly for sending it along.

     Have a great weekend.  See you down the trail.

CREATIVITY, WINNING & SHAKING IT OFF

HOW WE AMUSE OUR SELF

Like millions, I pumped a little anxiety into

the atmosphere this weekend.  I had invested an

emotional hope into the efforts of the Harbaugh brothers,

thinking what a great Superbowl that would be.

I've known Jim since he quarterbacked the

Colts and became a racing team partner

of two long time friends. Jim is an 

inspirational guy.

I can't help but feel bad for the Raven's kicker

and the 49ers receiver who had their big chance

turn into ashes.  I suspect the coaches

Harbaugh have met those emotional wounds

with something Jim said they learned at home

from their father, a coach.

Win or loose you have 24 hours to

either celebrate or feel bad, and then

you put it behind you and move on.

Jim and John Harbaugh are doing that

and I hope the players do as well.

IT WAS QUITE A PARTY

The sun came out and so did many friends

this weekend for Lana's Artist's Reception

at Windward Vineyard.

 You can see and read more about

her series of Plein Air Oils

Wandering the Central Coast

here.

I remain her #1 fan.

REEL THOUGHTS

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

This is John Le Carre captured on film.

I'm a fan of his work, though have often found 

myself rereading pages and even making notes.

His plots are intricate, complex and cerebral. So are

his characters. I can't imagine a better George Smiley

than how Gary Oldman nailed the role.  John Hurt

as Control is brilliant -pained, overwhelmed, fatigued,

byzantine and long suffering.  Benedict Cumberbatch,

who is getting a lot of attention at Sherlock in the PBS

series, shows his range as Peter Gulliam.

Director Tomas Alfredson somehow managed to

capture the arcane world of Le Carre.  The 

look of the film is spot on perfect as to how

I imagined the world Le Carre painted with words.

But, as in the case of the book, you need to 

pay attention to this film. It is a cerebral exercise,

which is what many of us like about Le Carre.

It may even make you long for the old cold war!

See you down the trail.