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Jungian Analysis of Wenders’ “Wings of Desire”; 4K Restoration Tours US

November 17, 2018

Thirty years ago, my favorite film of all time was released: WINGS OF DESIRE by Wim Wenders. I will never forget watching it for the first time, alone in the loft of my arts studio at Art City Ventura CA after I stumbled upon the film in the mid-90s at Salzer’s Video. I watched the film over the course of a few nights, loving every moment: the language, the images, the story. It filled me with hope.

So when given the opportunity in grad school in a Jungian Psychology class to write about a film from a depth psychological and Jungian perspective, I jumped at the chance to go deeper into my favorite film, and today, on the even of seeing a restoration of Wings of Desire, I reread my paper to see if I wanted to share it here… and you can find it below the trailer.

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On #WorldKindnessDay: Attend a Vigil or Volunteer, hear Indigenous Speakers or “The Crucible”

November 13, 2018

 

Today is #WorldKindnessDay. It sure seems like we need it.

Because many of our district’s students, faculty, and staff have been adversely affected this past week by major fires and a mass shooting, Moorpark College campus will be CLOSED on Tuesday, November 13 and classes have been canceled, while Ventura College and Oxnard College have classes and activities as scheduled including a vigil and other activities today from 10-1pm at VC.

This week, Ventura College also welcomes three guest speakers for Indigenous Speaker Series and offers the fall theater production, The Crucible.

Read more…

Under Fire Again #CaliforniaWildFires

November 10, 2018

Fire seen from my house in midtown Ventura; 6pm Fri. Nov. 9, 2018.

Less than a year after the Thomas Fire, Ventura County is under fire once again, under siege from the Hill Fire near Camarillo and the much larger Woolsey Fire which started near the Borderline Bar in Thousand Oaks where 12 people were killed at a College Night by a man who also killed himself a few hours before on Weds. Nov. 7, 2018. Read more about Thousand Oaks in this personal essay here by Suzanne Roberts.

In addition to evacuation of people and pets, exotic animals are on the run also: Read more…

#VoteToday #GoVote #MidtermElections2018 #2018Midterms #ElectionDay #GrabThemByTheBallot

November 6, 2018

“Oh, I voted all right. I moved on that ballot like a bitch. I got there, w/ blood coming out of my wherever! I’m auto attracted to polling stations—I just start filling in ovals. It’s like a magnet. And when ur registered, they let u do it. U can do anything.” #Grabthembytheballot  Read the original quote here.

Have YOU voted yet?

If you’re a resident of the United States, today is the day… Today we get to vote.  And personally? I hope we vote the assholes out.

 

The two images above are from the t-shirts I’ve been wearing in heavy rotation this past week. everywhere I go in the one above, I hear: “I LOVE YOUR SHIRT!” “Where can I get that shirt!” “I’m with you — and I already voted!” I’ll be wearing the tie dye one to teach in and to the polls.

Did you know… Read more…

Happy Blogiversary to Art Predator!

November 4, 2018
11 Year Anniversary Achievement
Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
You registered on WordPress.com 11 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

On the night of the time change from Daylight Savings to Standard in 2007, I started this blog.

My first posts and pages went up on this day, November 4, 2007. I chose a theme (gone) and a header photo from Burning Man– which is the same one all of these years and one of the more popular topics I write about.

That night I wrote the first draft of this about page and one of my first posts was about how I got the name Art Predator.

My WORDPRESS CAMP 2008 TATTOO! photo by Randy Stewart

Since then, I’ve published 1914 blog posts averaging over 500 words each with well over 700k views and 150k visitors. (So far this year, I’ve published 64 posts averaging 750 words and totaling almost 50k words!)

That’s almost 2k posts at 500 words — which means I’ve written somewhere close to a million words on this blog — not to mention my other blogs.

Because this blog spawned several other blogs, the most important of course being Wine Predator which I started in November of 2008. Because of Wine Predator, I have traveled the world to taste wine and write about it, and I get sent cases of wine to write about every month.

And yet, people ask me all the time about how much money I make as a blogger. The other day it occurred to me that I should ask them:

How much money did you make from all the time you invest watching sports or the latest on Netflix on TV? How much money do you make going to the gym? Or sewing? Or gardening? Or surfing? Or playing video games? Or reading? Or whatever your hobby is?

So many people write just for the joy of it — journaling away in notebooks, their words never seeing the light of day, never being read– so why do people think I should be making money off my blogs, in particular, off of this very eclectic one?

Although truth be told, I could say that I do get paid for some of my blog posts here since I use them in my college classes and I get paid to prepare to teach…and when I share the blog posts in class as a basis for some of my lessons I am getting paid…

Some people blog because they hope to be discovered and get published. I’m honest with my self — I don’t expect to ever be “discovered.” I know I’m a good writer, sometimes inspired, sometimes insightful. And while some of my friends have encouraged me to cut back on my blogging and make time for serious writing, like a novel or a collection of essays, I don’t want to spend all of my time chasing publication. I’d rather spend my time writing then trying to get published which rarely pays much.

Don’t get me wrong– I’d love to be published and I love to read and share my work in public. (Invite me! I do a living history performance about Theodosia Burr Shepherd too!)

I loved it when I received a grant form the Opus Archives to develop the Thomas Fire piece that I performed with Rasika Mathur at the Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara. I loved getting a commission from Newtown for a poem that would be part of a public art installation in Pasadena and that will be included in a CD.

So why blog?  

  1. Blogging teaches you discipline.
  2. Blogging teaches you introspection.
  3. Blogging gives you a voice.

As I wrote in that post linked to above, “what I discovered about blogging, what I love about blogging, and what was most freeing for me as a writer by blogging, is that for most people on their personal blogs there is no editor–you really are free to write what and how you want. The only editor is the one that is inside your head. And it is really easy to edit and change your writing–even after it is published! (In fact, I just added this last sentence!)”

As much as I have been urged to journal, I have never been able to stick with it. but blogging? it seems to work for me and as long as it does, I’ll be sticking around.

So cheers! Thank you for reading and for taking this journey with me!

And remember to Keep Calm and Celebrate My Blogiversary by subscribing and checking out the

TOP SEVEN POSTS OF ALL TIME —
pretty eclectic list if you ask me…

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#4 River of Skulls: the perfect wine for Halloween & Dia de los Muertos

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Sunday: Set Your Clocks Back! VOTE! Tuesday: Take Your Country Back! VOTE!

November 2, 2018

 

 

Tomorrow, before you go to bed, remember to set your clock back one hour in the United States!

Tuesday, before you go to bed, remember to take your country back!

Need some HalloWine ideas for your Halloween or Dodger Win?

October 27, 2018

You praying for a Dodger win?

You know we are!

If your Halloween festivities include the game and wine, you’ll want to check out these posts!

Here’s four Merlot that we paired with pulled pork for an easy dinner before Halloween fun with friends.

If you’re looking for a wine in a festive bottle, look no further than these — plus a Prosecco cocktail to die for!! we paired them with Halloween themed food like Bloody Borscht, Pukey Pumpkin Soup, and Brain Chunks on a bed of Intestines!

And if you’re looking for something a little more serious for your World Series, try one of these Napa merlot from Peju or Rutherford — learn more in Get Your Napa Game On: Celebrating #MerlotMe With Tritip and Salmon.

 

Ventura County Day of the Dead Events at Museums, Gardens, Galleries!

October 25, 2018

With the popularity of films such as the Academy award wining film Coco (see trailer above), and The Book of Life (see trailer below), more and more people around the world have learned about Day of the Dead or, in Spanish, Dia (or Dias) de Los Muertos. Read more…

Halloween: When Ghosts Walk

October 24, 2018
I’ve always loved Halloween — dressing up, running around at night under the moon, drawing witches… I even got to paint one of my drawings on a window at the mall in fifth grade and I won first prize! From now until Sunday November 4, it’s nothing but ghosts everywhere you go!
And that’s a good thing!
First up, we’ve got lots of fun activities this coming weekend in– and not just parties but haunted houses and hikes here in Ventura County! Then in my next post, I’ll share about a few Ventura County Day of the Dead events, and in my third post, I’ve got Hallo-wines, food, and cocktails to recommend — good for wherever you may be haunting!

Read more…

Five Reasons To Register and VOTE Nov. 6

October 22, 2018
Today, Monday Oct. 22, is the last day for Californians to register online to vote in the midterm elections Tuesday Nov. 6. After that, you can still vote but you need to do so in person. And if all else fails, show up at a polling place and ask for a provisional ballot.
And why is it so important to register and to vote?

Millions of Americans support public lands and we are being ignored. Millions of Americans hike, hunt, fish, and camp on our public lands. Our public lands also provide 66 million Americans with drinking water.

To help save our democracy we MUST elect leaders who listen to we the people.

In the 2014 midterm elections, only 36% — about one third — of the eligible voters showed register, showed up, and voted. That’s the lowest turnout since 1942 — when World War II was going on.

If we don’t vote, we don’t have a chance.

I understand why, during World War II, it would have been hard to vote. We were at war.

But today there is a war going on too — a war waged against people and planet for profit.

We must show up.

 

For a primer on who to vote for, check this post out.

Read more…

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art predator )'( seek to engage the whole soul

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