Billy Idol - Cradle of Love

Music Appreciation (A Retrospect)

Cradle of Love came out at perhaps the worse time for me--puberty. I was 12 or 13 and watching Betsy Lynn George rolling around on satin covers, with downs flowing and her crawling on the floor was indeed an adolescent's dream video.

The song and music video hit MTV during Spring 1990.  It was also used in
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane starring  Andrew Dice Clay.

So, the music video is self-explanatory.  It's about a gentleman who is seduced by a teenage girl--although, her age is unknown--who wants to listen to her Billy Idol cassette tape. 

via emimusic

Source: Wikipedia

Visit my blog to view the video at http://photographywritingandmore.blogspot.com/.

Jean-Gabriel Domergue

Art Appreciation

Born in Bordeaux, France, Jean-Gabriel Domergue was known for his art deco portraits of Parisiennes.  Self-proclaimed inventor of pin-up, Domergue was also an aristocrat known for his contributions to Parisian fashion.

A pupil of Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, he received the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, the highest decoration in France.



Woman with Greyhounds (1930) by Jean-Gabriel Domergue

Sources: Wikipedia; http://www.artlistings.com/art/d/antiques/2100/jean-gabriel-domergue-1889-1962/; http://www.domergue-paintings.com/artiste/index.php?langue=US;

Erasure - Take a Chance on Me

Music Appreciation

I'm taking a chance here. 

I was first introduced to Erasure by my high school bestfreinds.   Being the naive 16 year old boy, I thought the pop duo Erasure sang great tunes that were fun to sing and dance to.  Nothing more.  It was perhaps in college or even after that I realized Andy Bell, the lead singer, was considered a gay icon. 

I haven't stopped listening since, and I even find myself lipsyncing to their songs every change I get.  Yes, my inner-drag queen comes out--watch out sistas!

Okay, so for historical purposes, Take a Chance on Me was first recorded by ABBA in 1978.  Erasure's cover came out in 1992 and topped the UK Singles Chart for five weeks.

Sources: Wikipedia

Pablo Picasso - La Nana

Art Appreciation
 

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. 

La Nana (1901)

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.