Split personality. Liking the arts, especially opera, and hockey and Los Toros. I know, I know THAT one is non pc currently. But I can't help it saw some in Spain and got hooked, but good.
But on the other hand right now opera and hockey are in the forefront!
be in tune with the rest of the world.
However painful that might turn out to be?
But parrotting is not my strong suit.
So chers readers, there is no need to cringe that this blog will become politicized.
Satirized, possibly.
Even if half don't get it!
Fair warning: Read at your own risk of ROFLMAO.
And don't sue me when you break your funny bone!
Just had to say this this morning.
Over and Out on that subject.
Now to a serious matter.
Oh, wait...you don't think I am serious enough.
Because I won't kowtow to half, or even less, the things others want me to.
Tough!
You can do it how ever many times you want.
But don't force me to.
I simply don't care to be a lemming!
A modern tyranny of virtue... IMO.
All sort of things lately are labelled NOT PERMITTED.
Do Not Walk on Grass
No Smoking within.. ft of....
No Dumping of Trash
No Right Turn on Red
No Loitering
No Trespassing
Click it or Ticket
Helmet required
No more Sugary Soft Drinks
Coffee is not good for you / then - Coffee is good for you
Wine is bad for you / Wine IS good for you
Eggs are bad / Eggs are good
Olive Oil is good / recently - Olive is NOT so good after all
Hunting not permitted
No touching
No this
No that...
and on and on it goes.
The List of DO NOTs is becoming endless and added to almost daily.
And what's worse, it is all on YouTube, Media etc going 'viral'.
Privacy as it was once known and presumably much appreciated is NO longer!
And that NO was surely unintended, or was it?
How much easier to be a bully -ahem - wise guardian - nowadays, when one can be spied upon everywhere, even inside one's own home. No longer the safe castle of privacy it one was.
Count your this or that...
Cash register receipts (received one just recently at the VA snack shop) list the amount of calories, fat, salt, carbs and sugar which came with my egg, strip of bacon and coffee (black).
Just as if I had ordered them up that way :-D!
Ordered: 1 egg poached, 1 strip of bacon-fried, yes, but..., 1 cup of black Coffee
...And got a detailed list of the above cited ingredients!
If I wanted them or not.. there they were in black on white on that wide cash register receipt.
Of course, getting that information after you paid for the stuff is, literally, for the birds.
To toss it away after spending the $$? Wouldn't you?
Although it showed just how bad it is :-) for you to eat all those bad things!
Didn't you all realize that eggs are already salty? Without sprinkling those white crystals on it?
We all know VIRTUE for what it historically has meant:
Wisdom, Justice, Bravery, Moderation.
Plus in these industrial times:
Cleanliness, Timeliness, Diligence.
And further all those created by various religions or fanaticisms -
usually just as the leader of one wants it to be, or needs it to be, to control his/her adherents.
One thing seems to have stayed essentially the same, the (often self appointed) guardians of whichever 'virtues en vogue' do become the 'bullies of the moment'.
Yes, bullies
That horrible 'new' word so frequently in the NEWS!
As if bullies had never been around before now.
Bullies: because they think they are the ONLY ones 'who know what's good for the masses'.
Nonconformists need not apply - better yet they ought to emigrate to ...the moon? where for now anyway, it may be still possible to do without the DON'Ts.
Self determination be damned.
The masses are just tooo.... whatever, to let them decide for themselves. They so need to be protected from themselves, by the wise "bully" of the flavor of the month!
Of course, they may have had, and have, different titles:
Leader, Sendai, Emperor, Professor, Reverend, Monsignor, Imam, Master, Teacher, Big Brother, Big Sister, Pop. Mom..... and so forth.
But in the end they were, are, and always will be bullies!
Today was, alas, the last of the weekend lectures at the MFAH.
It was, in sort of a light hearted way, a fitting end to spring, one could say.
Rembrandt's airy drawings in forefront!
With a light touch of charcoal, ink, pencil or tiny brush he told a story.
He might have deepened the feeling by using a wash to emphasize light and dark.
Some of the samples discussed seemed like caricatures of plain people. In a very thoughtful way! Not to make fun of negatives. Rembrandt appeared to have enjoyed redrawing life's wrinkles!
His easy acceptance of old age and its beauty shines through everywhere.
Not that he did not try his pen and ink on landscapes, he did.
And the light touch stayed.
The drawings just seem so... un-Rembrandt when compared to his dark oils:
Drawings by some of his contemporaries and pupils show how
Rembrandt influenced them to "Tell a story". With a bit of imagination by the viewer one can certainly see the words - and thoughts, of the subjects.
For more on the Master, find some books to read.
In the past weeks, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Van Aelst, Caravaggio, Van Dyke and other old masters were the lecture subjects. Many presented with rare humor by a local expert, others by visitors.
Modern art was not neglected.
Contemporary Art from MALBA is on show ow:
From Rivera to Soto and Lam.
