Pablo Picasso - La Nana

Art Appreciation


La Nana (1901) - Pablo Picasso



My grandma, Nana, travelled with us practically everywhere we went.  Since I was the only child, my dad would invite my Nana to join us on trips into Mexico and to other places such as Las Vegas, and Disney World.  So it was not a big surprise when my parents invited Nana to join us for our European vacation. 

Looking back, I should have appreciated the idea of taking my grandma to Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, and German.  A few years later she would pass away after a bout with cancer.

However, this blog entry is not about cancer--perhaps I should write something about the subject soon.  It's about my Nana in the Pablo Picasso museum in Barcelona and running into her namesake painting--La Nana.

Naturally, being raced by an opinionated and outspoken father, I had to say what I saw when La Nana was before me.  "Mire, se parece a Nana (Look, it looks like Nana)."  I couldn't stop cracking up.  Nana didn't appreciate my disrespect; although, she never did stay angry at me.

La Nana was painted during Picasso's early expressionism years. 

Sources: Wikipedia; http://pablo-picasso.paintings.name/biography/

Talking Heads - And She Was

Music Appreciation (A Retrospect)

Oscar award winner and Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame inductee David Byrne and Talking Heads became a staple in New Wave pop music in the 1980s.

From what I remember, the music videos in the early 80s were either pop, rock or "New Wave."  New Wave incorporated electronic with punk rock, pop, with a touch of disco.  In a way, New Wave bridged the late 70's disco and punk rock with the late 80's pop rock.

I was nine years old when I first watched  And She Was , which hit the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1985, on TBS' Night Tracks and MTV.  And perhaps this music video might explain my hand and foot fetish.

via jimmyredproductions


Source: Wikipedia

Teaching children in a green environment... literally

Architectural firm, Chartier Dalix, will be transforming a former car-making factory building in Boulogne, France into a "green-roof" educational facility surrounded and covered with grass, flowers and trees.  

The urban redevelopment project will incorporate natural habitat on and around the 18-classroom school. 

Sources: http://www.greenpacks.org/2011/04/15/former-renault-factory-assumes-green-roofed-school-make-over/; http://veryveryfun.com/content/view/247/1/; http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1kMbFA/inhabitat.com/former-renault-factory-in-france-becomes-an-undulating-green-roofed-school/; http://www.chartier-dalix.com/index.php?/education/boulogne-2010/

The Breeders - Cannonball

Considered one of the best songs of the 1990's, Cannonball was performed by the American alternative rock band, The Breeders, formed from members of the Pixies and Throwing Muses. 

Honestly, I didn't understand alternative music until I immersed myself in the genre.  Before meeting my high school friends, I would only listen to rap and r&b music.  Grudge and alternative punk was foreign to me until I took time to listen. 

The Breeders' Cannonball was  probably the song that made me appreciate this new genre of music; although, it was a bit hard to swallow.  Afterwards, I found myself with a subscription of Huh Magazine and listening only to the local rock station, which if you were lucky, caught the latest alternative song.

Wright Model B

1912 Model "B" Wright

The birth of the airplane began with Orville and Wilbur's Flyer I in 1903.  Seven models later, the Wright brothers redesigned their airplane to create the Model B.  The new design incorporated rear elevators that allowed easier control.

Wingspan: 39 ft (11.9 m)

Length: 28 ft (8.5 m)

Height: 8 ft, 9 in (2.7 m)

Motor: 8-cylinder 75 horsepower
Speed: 45 mph

Sources: Wikipedia; http://www.456fis.org/THE_WRIGHT_BROTHERS_MODEL_-_B.htm; http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridamemory/

Visit my blog at http://photographywritingandmore.blogspot.com/

Wild and Free

Art Appreciation

Located in front of the Texas Memorial Museum at the corner of San Jacinto and 24th Street on the University of Texas campus, Alexander Phimister Proctor's sculpture of mustangs captures the freedom of the frontier American west.


Source: Wikipedia; http://www.utexas.edu/tours/statues/mustangs.html; http://www.answers.com/topic/alexander-phimister-proctor

Lady Gaga - Born this way

Music Appreciation
 Many have criticized Lady Gaga as steeling from Madonna.   Perhaps, but so freaking what! 

My generation saw our Madonna and enjoyed her music.  I'll be the first to admit that I stayed up way past my bedtime to watching Madonna's Justify My Love. Yes, I love it all.

But why should we deprive our next generation from their "Madonna?"  Lady Gage may not reach the Madonna stature, but that's not for us to judge.

Salt-N-Pepa - Push It

Music Appreciation

Who else could make leather jackets, gold chains, and black spandex look cool? Cheryl James (aka Salt), Sandra Denton (aka Pepa) and Dee Dee Roper (aka Spinderella). Yes, Salt-N-Pepa, "the godmothers of rap," introduced the world to "Push It" in 1987.

So what was going on in the world when "Push It" was released? U.S. President Ronald Reagan addressed the American people on the Iran-Contra Affair, and U2 released their Joshua Tree album.




Source: Mother Jones Magazine, 1990; Wikipedia