Monthly Archives: May 2018

Artist Profile: George Mayers

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

I found this biography of the artist George Mayers at Quart.com:

George Mayers is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art. He spent many years in New York doing illustrations for advertising agencies and most of the major magazines. His workhas appeared in Time, Colliers, Redbook, Coronet, Life and Fortune. His assignments often included subjects dealing both the Revolutionalry Warand the Civil War. During his extensive research on these subjects, his interest in history was developed and subsequently deepened. He continues to work a great deal with historical subject matter. Mayers works with oil, watercolor and acrylic demonstrating a great facility in each. He has had many one-man shows ans has been the recipient of several awards including the Freedoms Foundation Medal for a series of paintings on the American Flag that appeared in Coronet in 1951. His work is included in numerous private collections throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. He has appeared in one-man shows every other yearat Newman’s Gallery in Phiadelphia, Pennsylvania in addition to a long list of other gallery showings and exhibitions.  He died in 1987.

Below are a few of Mayers’s paperback covers:

Music Video of the Day: My Way performed by Christopher Lee (2006, dir by ?????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBKZmPP1puo

Christopher Lee recorded this version of My Way for Revelation, a 2006 album of covers.  This video features Lee at his home in London’s Tufnell Park.

My Way was originally written by Paul Anka, who based the song on a French song called Comme d’habitude.  The song, of course, was made famous by Frank Sinatra but it’s also been recorded by everyone from Elvis to Sid Viscous to Jay-Z.  As for Lee’s version — well, whatever he may have lacked in vocal range was made up for by the fact that he was Christopher Lee!  As for the music video, how could any Hammer horror fan resist the chance to see the inside of Christopher Lee’s home?

There is a strain of melancholy running through Lee’s version but then again, I don’t know if it’s possible to record a non-melancholy version of My Way.  On the one hand, it’s a song of triumph.  On the other hand, it’s a song that acknowledges that we’re all mortal, even those of us who refuse to compromise and who maintain our independence.

Enjoy!

Artist Profile: Alan Bean (1932 — 2018)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

On November 24th, 1969, 37 year-old Alan Bean became the fourth man to walk on the surface of the moon.  As a part of the crew of Apollo 12, Bean piloted the Lunar Module and, along with Pete Conrad, he spent a day and 7 hours on the lunar surface.  Four years later, Bean would return to space as a part of the Skylab 3 mission.

When Bean retired from NASA in 1981, he devoted himself to painting.  As Bean explained it, being an astronaut gave him a chance to see things that no one else had ever gotten a chance to see and he hoped that, through his paintings, he could allow others the chance to experience what he experienced.  For his paintings of the moon, Bean would often add small patches of actual lunar dust.

Bean passed away on May 26th but he left behind two proud legacies, one of exploration and one of art.  Below are just a few of Bean’s lunar paintings.  More can be seen at his website.

Special Memorial Day Edition: THE DEVIL’S BRIGADE (United Artists 1968)

Posted on by gary loggins

gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

In the wake of 1967’s THE DRITY DOZEN came a plethora of all-star, similarly themed films. THE DEVIL’S BRIGADE is one of those, though just a bit different: it’s based on the true-life exploits of the First Special Service Force, a collection of American misfits straight from the stockades and the crack, highly disciplined Canadian military, forging them into one cohesive fighting unit.

William Holden  heads the cast as Lt. Col. Robert Frederick, tasked with putting the units together. His seconds-in-command are the cigar chomping American Major Brecker (Vince Edwards) and proud Canadian Major Crown (Cliff Robertson). The Americans, as rowdy a bunch of reprobates as there ever was, include Claude Akins , Luke Askew, Richard Jaeckel, and Tom Troupe, while the Canadians are represented by the likes of Richard Dawson, Jeremy Slate, and Jack Watson , war movie vets all.  Andrew Prine is also aboard as an AWOL…

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One Hit Wonders #14: “The Ballad of The Green Berets” by SSgt. Barry Sadler (RCA Victor Records 1966)

Posted on by gary loggins

gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

The year was 1966. The month was May. The Vietnam War was dividing the country as the U.S. made their way into Cambodia, civil rights marchers were  protesting across the nation, and China set off their third nuclear bomb. Rock and roll ruled the pop charts, as The Rolling Stones were having their 19th nervous breakdown, Nancy Sinatra’s boots were made for walkin’, Bobby Fuller fought the law (and the law won), but it was Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler, an Army medic who served in Vietnam, who began a five-week run at #1 on the Billboard charts with “The Ballad of The Green Berets”:

The music charts weren’t as polarized then as they are now. Besides all the latest rock hits, you could find traditional pop (“My Love”, Petula Clark), R&B (“Uptight”, Stevie Wonder), country (“Cryin’ Time”, Ray Charles), instrumentals (“Theme from Zorba the Greek”, Tijuana Brass), even blues (“Scratch…

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Music Video Of The Day: Arlington by Trace Adkins (2009, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’m not really a country music fan but it does seem to be the best genre to go to if you’re looking for a good Memorial Day song.   Add to that, I may not be a country music fan but I do like Trace Adkins because he’s like the perfect Texan, even if he is from Louisiana.

To quote from the video’s description on YouTube: “Arlington” is sung from the viewpoint of a soldier, killed in battle and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. It was inspired by United States Marine Corps Corporal Patrick Nixon, who died in battle in 2003.

Someone needs to make a TV show where Trace Adkins and Sam Elliott ride across America on motorcycles and solve crimes.

 

Lisa’s Week In Review: 5/21/18 — 5/27/18

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week started out poorly but it got better on Tuesday.  That’s when I came across an interesting statistic. Only 21% of American adult have a twitter account.  Why is this important?  Because we tend to assume that the worst people online represent all of humanity when, in all reality, most people aren’t even online.  Once I realized that, this week got a lot better!

Anyway, it’s the holiday weekend!  Erin and I spent it at our uncle’s!  I got to work on my tan.  I got to hang out with family.  It was the perfect way to end a week.

Here’s what else I got accomplished!

Movies I Watched:

  1. Boulevard Nights (1979)
  2. Clown (2014)
  3. Deadpool 2 (2018)
  4. Fiance Killer (2018)
  5. Killer Ending (2018)
  6. Killer Island (2018)
  7. Mistress Hunter (2018)
  8. Mommy’s Little Angel (2018)
  9. Six: The Mark Unleashed (2004)
  10. This Island Earth (1956)
  11. The Unmiracle (2017)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. American Idol
  2. The Americans
  3. Archer: Danger Island
  4. Cheaters — It was a Joey Greco episode!  Though, sadly, not the one where he got stabbed…
  5. Dancing With The Stars: Athletes
  6. Doctor Phil
  7. Fear the Walking Dead
  8. Extreme Measures
  9. Ghost Whisperer
  10. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
  11. iZombie
  12. King of the Hill
  13. Legion
  14. Miss USA 2018
  15. Murder Calls
  16. The Perfect Murder
  17. Roseanne
  18. Saved By The Bell
  19. The Split
  20. Survivor 36
  21. The Terror
  22. Westworld

Books I Read:

  1. Space Oddyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpice (2018) by Michael Benson
  2. Time Pieces: A Dublin Memoir (2018) by John Banville

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Above & Beyond
  2. Adi Ulmansky
  3. Blanck Mass
  4. Blondie
  5. The Chemical Brothers
  6. Christopher Lee
  7. Chromatics
  8. Fitz and the Tantrums
  9. Goblin
  10. Jakalope
  11. Kama Vardi
  12. Kedr Levanskiy
  13. Meg Myers
  14. Nedelle Torrisi
  15. Saint Motel
  16. Talking Heads
  17. Zoe Johnston

Links From Last Week:

  1. Kevin Smith says Ben Affleck hasn’t spoken to him in years.
  2. Strong, assertive, and surprisingly feminist – why there’s nothing ‘offensive’ about Bond girls
  3. Showtime to air uninterrupted Twin Peaks marathon in June!
  4. The Cultural Vandalism of Jeffrey Tambor by Matt Zoller Seitz.  I’ve never struggled with separating the art from the artist but, as always with Seitz, this is still an interesting and even important read.
  5. On her photography site, my sister invited us all to look up!

Links From The Site:

  1. Erin honored the memory Bill Gold and celebrated World Redhead Day (as everyone should)!
  2. Gary reviewed Die, Monster, Die and paid tribute to Clint Walker!
  3. Leonard shared the Too Old To Die Young trailer and reviewed Solo!
  4. Case gave us his own thoughts on Solo!
  5. Ryan reviewed By Monday I’ll be Floating In The Hudson With The Other Garbage and The Fuhrman Tapes, along with sharing his weekly reading round-up!

Want to see what I accomplished last week?  Click here!

Have a great week everyone!